


The Evils Within

by Miragold123



Category: Mario & Luigi RPG (Video Games), Mario - Fandom, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Suspense, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22664863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miragold123/pseuds/Miragold123
Summary: An old 'friend' has plagued Luigi's mind and it's his and his jobs to stop it before it gets too out of hand
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

Luigi was seemingly trapped in a box in his own dream, watching the events play out before him.

His arch-enemy, his greatest fear, his own subconscious, his second personality, has begun tormenting him through his dreams. He had thought he had shut this out years ago, but it was back. It wore his clothes, his face, his voice, but it wasn’t him. At least, not him at the moment.

Luigi watched helplessly as the most suppressed element of his mind fought his own brother. An old memory he watched, through a new perspective, although, something was off. Mario wasn't winning.

Both Mario, and this repressed thought jumped in the air, it higher than him. It smirked, hands beginning to spark, and spiked him to the ground. The red-clad hero crashed to the ground, attempting to push himself up off the ground as this entity softly landed before him.

Luigi yelled out to his brother once he hit the ground, the look of absolute horror in his eyes, as he tried to force his way out of the box. His hand slid right through the transparent wall as if it were made out of a gelatin-like substance. He continued to attempt to free himself from the prison.

It smiled at Mario. It wasn't of a 'light-hearted' manner, rather a 'bad intentions' one.

"Luigi..." He groaned, "...why?" He was confused. Why would his own brother be attacking him? The first time was understandable, him being hypnotized and all, but again? Now? It wasn't making sense.

Its smirk turned to a frown. “Why? I’m tired of being in your shadow, being seen as the 'lesser' brother. You know, I want some credit from time to time, and I’m going to get it,” its hand began to spark, “It’s my turn to be ‘player one’,” its hand grew brighter as it was pointed to the sky.

Luigi pushed and kicked at the wall for what seemed like ages before finally getting free. He yelled out his brother’s name which got both his and the entity’s attention.

Angry, it redirected its hand to Mario and smirked, “It’s too late, red. This battle is over.” A green ball of lightning began to form before his hands.

Luigi made a run for it, if there was some chance of stopping this thing or, at least, saving his brother, he was going to take it.

Mario tried to push himself off the ground to try to roll from the impending blast, but his arms were too weak to support him. He flinched, expecting certain doom, but was instead met by a feeling in his side. Something, or someone, was pushing him out of the way, saving his life.

Luigi slid across the ground, kicking his brother away from the imminent blast. The entity was shocked but had already released the ball. Before Mario could tell what had saved him, this life-saving entity was smitten and everything faded to black.

Mario's eyes shot open. He put a hand to his chest and sighed in relief as he had escaped from that nightmare. Almost after, Luigi awoke too, him with a gasp.

Mario sat up and looked down towards his brother's bunk, a look of horror across Luigi's face.

"Bro, are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

Luigi looked up to his brother and gave a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

But he, in fact, was not fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Luigi found himself awake, not in the box of the previous night, but through his own eyes. He couldn't control what he was doing, he was essentially trapped in another prison.

Tonight, he was in Peach's castle and it was in terrible condition. The castle was on the verge of collapsing. Someone had attacked, but it wasn’t anyone that had attacked before.

Peach was cowering behind her large chair in the throne room, a dark purple bruise surrounded her left eye as she hugged her crown tightly to protect it. Footsteps could be heard entering the room.

Frightened, her breathing quickened, looking around the room for somewhere to run to. There was nowhere to run. All that was around her were two potted plants on either side of the room and a large stained glass window with her portrait embezzled in it. The thought of breaking the vases that held the small plants, but that would draw attention to the cramped space between the wall and the throne. She thought about going for the window, but the fall was approximately three stories, so she would definitely sustain some injuries.

She stayed put as the steps grew closer and closer. Tears began to flow down her cheeks before the footsteps stopped. Did he leave? Was she safe? Before she could sigh in relief, her throne exploded, sending debris throughout the room. In the wall, towards the ceiling, through the window, some even into Peach's arms, causing scratches and cuts.

Peach turned around, still seated on the ground, slowly crawling towards the wall that was now behind her. The white glowing hue emitting from his hands subsided as he approached Peach. 

"Please! You don't need to do this! What has gotten into you!?" Peach pleaded. Of all people to storm the castle, Luigi would be the last for her to expect.

Ignoring her pleas, he stopped in front of Peach, hands angrily balled into fists. "I'm not going to tell you again, hand over the crown!" He shouted. Internally, Luigi was questioning his motives. What was he doing? What was he saying? Why is he doing this?

Peach turned her body away, still looking to him, but holding her crown away from him. "I will do no such thing. I don't hand my crown out to anybody, I'm the respected ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom!" She responded.

He scoffed, "Respected? Ha! Don't make me laugh. How could anyone respect a ruler who gets kidnapped every other week? You can't protect your own kingdom, let alone yourself!" Those words bounced around inside Luigi's head for a little while. He remembered having similar thoughts every time his brother risked his life to rescue Peach. They were quite harsh now that he actually said it out loud.

"I can and have been protectin-" Peach began, but was immediately cut off.  
He shook his head, "No you haven't. Mario has. You can't just leave the safety of your kingdom in the hands of… one person… You've got to take matters into your own hands. This kingdom deserves someone like that, not someone like you," he scolded, having crouched down to her eye level.

Peach needed a second to think. It was true. She'd interject, but she knew he was right. The kingdom does deserve someone better.

"I'll make this easy for you. Hand over the crown and I'll make sure not to destroy your kingdom anymore. I'll make sure everyone's safe," he crossed his fingers behind his back, holding out another arm for the crown. "But if not… it's bye-bye Mushroom Kingdom."

Peach looked to the crown and back to him. She didn't want to risk it. Sure, the kingdom does need a better ruler, but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let him rule. She was also afraid. Afraid of what he might do to her.

She made up her mind. Releasing the tight grip from the crown, she slowly and reluctantly handed over the crown.

Luigi was screaming to himself to stop. He didn't know what he was doing. He watched, feeling a single tear roll down his cheek. Externally, he glared at it before agitatedly wiping it off. He plucked the crown out from Peach’s hand, and immediately blew a hole in the wall with another ball of lightning.

Peach gasped, “But… but you said you wouldn’t-”


	3. Chapter 3

Mario tossed back and forth in an attempt to sleep before looking to the ceiling and sighing in annoyance. "Bro, can you shut that light off? It's almost two in the morning," he asked his brother from his top bunk.

"Sorry, bro. It's just the only thing I can think of to keep me awake," Luigi responded tiredly. He had been up for the last three days, terrified of his own dreams.

Mario sat up from his bed and looked over to Luigi, deeply concerned about his brother's mental state. "You can't stay awake forever. That's not good for you," he worriedly informed. He jumped down from his bed onto his brothers. Luigi was about to drift off to sleep before snapping awake at the feeling of his bed-springs jolting.

"Luigi, come here," Mario said. Luigi moved to sit next to him and he put an arm around Luigi's shoulders. "Listen, I know you're terrified of going to sleep, but I'm terrified of what could happen if you don't," he told him, worry written all over his face.

Luigi glanced at the floor, then back to his brother. “I know, but... I’m afraid,” he responded sheepishly. “Afraid of what he could do to me. Afraid of the mind tricks he could pull…” he tried to explain to him but to no avail.

Mario looked to him confused. “Luigi, it’s just a dream. It can’t hurt you!” He sighed, “Bro, listen, I’m tired, you’re tired, let’s just please try to get sleep. This’ll make a lot more sense, for the both of us, if we got some rest.” He stopped, noticing that he had begun raising his voice. He gave his brother a tight hug and attempted to apologize. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’m being a bit rude,” He yawned, absolutely desperate for some sleep after the day he had been through, “But please, Luigi, please get some sleep, okay?”

No response. All he got was the sound of him softly breathing as he had fallen asleep on his brother’s shoulder. Mario carefully pulled him off of him and tucked him into bed, lightly ruffling his hair with a smile before heading back into his bed. He reached over to the lamp to shut off the light so they both could get some kind of sleep.

~~~~~

Luigi fell to the ground from seemingly out of nowhere. He looked around. Realizing he was back in his dream space, he groaned in distress but wanted to get this impending nightmare over.

“You’re back,” his own voice sounded before him. It was him again, but he was a bit different. Yes, he was still wearing his face, but instead of being an exact clone, it donned a black jumpsuit with two gold buttons on either side, a dark green neckerchief, gray gloves and shoes, and a black mask over his eyes, in contrast to Luigi’s general attire.

“And to think, I was starting to worry about you,” it mocked in a condescending tone. “Oh, I don’t think I’ve had the chance to properly reintroduce myself! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me,” he smiled with a faux laugh.

Luigi stood up, dusting off his overalls. “How could I not? ‘The Green Thunder himself, Mr. L’. You’ve tormented me for months after Dimentio took over!” He responded as a question popped in his mind. “What are you doing back anyway? I thought I repressed you.”

“You did, but… the thing about repressed memories and feelings is that they come back sooner or later," he explained. “As for why, I want out. Out of this barren wasteland you call a ‘mind’. I want to be my own person, instead of being confined to this wuss.

Luigi put a hand to his chest in an offended manner before quickly shaking out the thought to stay on topic. “You...you know I couldn’t possibly let you go. Who knows what mess you could cause! And with my face to boot? I can’t imagine the repercussions!” Stressed, he placed his hands on either side of his head and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Mr. L scoffed, “Pathetic,” he crossed his arms and took a step towards Luigi. "I'm going to be free, just you wait," He smirked as the dream began to fade out.


	4. Chapter 4

Luigi snapped awake, taking a bit of time to breathe after what had happened in his dream. He sat up and looked around the room, the sun beaming brightly through the curtains. He smiled, that wasn't so bad, he thought.

His eyes shifted over to the clock. 2:37 it read. He groaned. Twelve hours of sleep and he felt awful. He tried to get out of bed, placing a foot on the ground before quickly placing it back on the bed having forgotten how cold the hardwood floors can get. He slid over to the foot of the bed and slid on his pair of green slippers before shuffling around the house to get ready. It was pretty quiet, but it was understandable. Around this time, Mario was up and about at Peach’s castle.

Luigi left the house and began towards Toad Town. The sun shone unusually bright but the temperature didn’t seem any different than usual. Something was wrong. He felt it. He stopped outside of the town, mouth agape. Something was definitely wrong.

The town lies in ruins. Buildings crumbled and holes in the ground indicated an obvious bob-omb attack. 

As he wandered throughout the town, he became more and more confused. No attack on the kingdom has ever been this harsh. He came across a group of toads who were all huddled together, forming some kind of plan. Luigi couldn't hear what they were talking about.

He stepped closer, which alerted one of the toads in the group. "Forget the plan," he shouted, "Run!"

The remainder of the toads looked at him for a second before turning to where he was looking. They all stared at Luigi, who waved nervously to them, before scattering off in different directions.

That was odd. Luigi briefly turned around, but nothing was behind him. Were they running from him? Hopefully not.

Continuing his exploration, he found it weird that the toads around were trying to avoid him, like he was some kind of… threat. Toads were running, hiding, or cowering in fear when he passed them.

What was going on?

Luigi made his way to the castle and it was in worse shape than the rest of the town. Holes and cracks were all over the castle, windows were shattered, an entire spire was knocked over. Who would do such a thing? Not even Bowser has left it in this state. Yet, it seemed like someone was rebuilding it. Sporadically, there were off-colored patches of black or green than the traditional white and pink. Inside was no better. It looked like a warzone. Carpets singed, glass and other debris littered the floor, walls to rooms entirely missing for presumably easy access.

“H-hello? Anyone here?” he asked, hoping someone knew what had been going on. Faint whimpering and shushing could be heard. He had no idea where the sound came from. He began to cautiously explore the castle.

In a small room in the west wing of the castle, Peach, and a few toads all gathered together in the corner. Two of the toads began to cry while the other two tried to shush them.

"He's coming back! He's coming back," one of them cried, tightly hugging Peach's arm.

"Be quiet! He's going to find us with all your crying," another scolded.

Luigi continued his way through the castle. It felt a lot bigger than usual while he was walking around by himself. He approached the center of the castle. To the left and right of him were two hallways and in front of him was the throne room and it was a mess. For starters, the throne was in hundreds, if not, thousands of pieces all over the room. The window was broken in four separate places. There was an awfully large hole blown into the side of the wall that was off-coloredly patched only halfway. It looked awfully familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he had seen it.

Looking both left and right to the hallways to the sides of him, he chooses to go left as the hallway isn’t very long anyway.

The footsteps drew closer. Toads whimpering only grew in volume as Peach hugged them closely. The door opened, a relieved Luigi was met with a terrified Peach.

His relief turned to shock. Peach looked as if she had been caught in an explosion. Her dress was torn and lightly signed near the rim. Cuts and bruises all over, especially her right arm where her glove was missing. The purple-blue discoloration around her eye drew attention away from the rest of her appearance

"What happened here?" he asked quietly. He was afraid to ask because he knew the answer wouldn’t exactly be something to hope for.

Peach seemed offended. Her fear turned to anger at the sound of the question. “What do you mean, ‘what happened here?’ You know perfectly well what happened! I’ve given you what you wanted, there’s nothing left for you here!”

Luigi was now even more confused. “I-wha-” he wanted to explain himself, but Peach wasn't having it.

“Please… just go. I don’t want any trouble,” her voice was breaking. He could see in her eyes that she’s been through a lot and doesn’t wish to worry her anymore.

He walked out of the room as Peach and two toads poked their heads out of the door. Luigi turned to the large hole in the wall in the throne room. Outside, there was nothing but trees for seemingly miles. He thought he’d cause no one any more trouble if no one was around. He steps out through the wall and walks towards the forest.

Luigi was so confused. Surely, this can't be a dream because it felt so real, but this can't be real. Everyone disregards him, no one was actually afraid of him.

He needed time to think.


	5. Chapter 5

Mario was concerned for his brother. More so than when he was awake for three days straight. Luigi's been asleep for four days and was showing no sign of waking up any time soon. His light snores could be heard throughout the house, which relieved Mario to know he was still alive and breathing.

The first, if not, the first two days were understandable. He desperately needed that sleep, but this felt a little excessive.

After getting ready himself, Mario helped the unconscious green-clad hero get ready as well. He then slung him over his shoulder and started walking towards Peach's castle.

He was thinking. Thinking of what could be the cause of his brother's seemingly eternal slumber. He remembered a remark. Luigi said he was afraid of what he could do to him, but who was 'he'? A couple of suspects came to mind, but none, in particular, seemed possible at the time.

Mario arrives at the castle where Peach greets him at the door. Her attention shifted to the unconscious brother slung over his shoulder. “What happened?” she asked, concerned.

“That, I need to find out,” he responded.

Peach led him to a small guest room. The room barely had enough space to fit the three of them. Mario laid his brother down on the bed and stood to the side of him, Peach on the opposing side. Luigi's light snores, and occasional twitches with moans of discomfort, were the only sounds that were heard.

Mario looked down at his brother. A once confident look in his eyes was replaced with a more vulnerable one. "He's been like this for four days now. I don't think people are supposed to sleep this long," he explained.

"Have you tried waking him up?" Peach suggested.

"Definitely!" Mario responded, "I've tried shaking him, but he was incredibly limp in my hands, which made me uneasy. I've poured water on his face and he looked annoyed but didn't wake up. I've… hit him a couple of times, but stopped because that made me uncomfortable. I've even tried scaring him, that works all the time, but… Nothing." 

Mario's gaze shifted from the princess to his brother. He crossed his arms and placed them on the bed, shifting his weight from his legs to his arms. "I know he's not gone, I know there's something we can do, but…" he sighs, "what?"

Peach saw the dejected look in his eye and put a hand on her chin as she thought. An idea popped in her mind shortly after. “Could we wake him up from inside of his dream?” she suggested, rubbing the back of her neck. It sounded more ridiculous out loud than it did in her head.

Hearing that, Mario thought for a moment and gasped with a smile. “That’s right! And I know just who could help us,” he exclaimed, beginning to head towards the door. He stopped himself in the doorway, looking back to Peach and Luigi with a soft smile. Peach smiled back with a nod and off Mario went.

Peach sat in a chair that stood across the foot of the bed. She rested her head on her arm on the small dresser that was next to the chair. Peach sighed. Seeing Luigi like this reminded her of a dream she had not too long ago.

Respected? Ha! Don't make me laugh. How could anyone respect a ruler who gets kidnapped every other week? You can't protect your own kingdom, let alone yourself

Those words echoed through her head. She couldn't deny them as they were true. She felt helpless. She wanted to help.

You can't just leave the safety of your kingdom in the hands of… one person… You've got to take matters into your own hands. This kingdom deserves someone like that, not someone like you

Peach knew she had to help. She couldn't just sit around and wait for the problem to be solved like she did all the time. She was going to help him.

Peach looked to her unconscious friend. Luigi lied in the bed, sleeping soundly and occasionally twitching in discomfort. She placed her elbow on the dresser beside her, rested her hand in her palm, and sighed. "I'm going to get you out of there, trust me," she said to him.

Having drifted off to sleep herself in the position she had sat in, Peach was awoken by the sound of the door. Mario optimistically walked into the room, an orange pillow-like figure following behind him.

The pillow turned to Peach and nodded in acknowledgment. "Princess Peach," it greeted, "What a pleasure to meet you again."

Finally recognizing this pillow, Peach smiled back. "Prince Dreambert?" She returned the greeting to the Pi'illo Prince, "Pleasured to meet you again as well."

"Now that we have the formalities out of the way, you say you want to help your friend here?" Dreamer floated over to Luigi, examining him in his unconscious state.

Mario nodded, his once optimistic smile was now replaced by a concerned look. "Yes, we don't know what is causing this, but I figured if anyone could be of help, it’d be you."

"Well, I'm not sure what to do, but as I am forever grateful for you saving my people, I can see what I can do to help," the pillowy prince smiled in response. Floating down to Luigi's side, he squeezed himself between the bed mattress and the green-clad hero before transforming into a large orange pillow beneath him.

A colorful cloud appears above Luigi’s head. The dream portal. Mario took a step forward and spoke up, “Peach, you stay here and wait for him to wake up, I’ll be back.”

Peach interjected, “Wait, if he suddenly wakes up while you're in there, the portal will close. How would you get out?”

Mario hadn’t thought of that. How would he get out of his brother’s head without the portal? He can’t just have him go right back to sleep for him to get out. He’s been out for four and a half days, it would most definitely be very well-rested.

“I’ll go,” She said with a confident smile, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“What? You can’t go! It’s too dangerous,” he informed her.

“And let you get stuck there? We’re going to need your help in case something happens out here while you’d be stuck in there,” she responded, “And besides, I really want to help.” Mario seemed skeptical, but Peach reassured him. “I’m going to be fine, trust me,” She told him with a soft smile.

Mario thought about it a bit more but sighed in defeat. He couldn’t say no to her. “Okay, you can go get Luigi back and I’ll just wait here,” he smiled a defeated smile. Peach approached the portal, taking one more glance at Mario. “Just- stay safe, okay?” he spoke up.

She nodded, turning back to the portal. She took a deep breath before jumping into the multi-colored cloud that floated above Luigi’s head.


	6. Chapter 6

Peach floated to the ground in what seemed to be the outskirts of Toad Town just outside of the bros’ house. For a second, she had forgotten that she was in a dream since everything seemed relatively normal. A mass of stars began to form beside her. Emerging from this mass was Prince Dreambert who was now reduced to his dream form of just a pillow with a face. 

The two looked around. Nothing was out of the ordinary, which was odd considering they were in a dream. Beneath them, a dirt road with a single set of footprints trailing down it. The trail lead through a clearing in the trees.

“He must have gone this way,” Peach tells Dreambert, pointing at the footprints leading down the road towards the small town. Dreambert nodded and the two continued forward, Peach taking a glance behind them to make a mental note of the return portal’s location. As the two made their way down the abnormally normal path, they couldn’t help but think that something was wrong. 

They stopped just outside of Toad Town and their theories were quickly proven correct. The kingdom was practically torn down and in the process of being replaced by a new ruler.

“What happened here?” Dreambert says to himself in absolute disbelief.

“I… I don’t know...” Peach responded, looking up to her now malformed kingdom nearly speechless. Her attention shifted from the kingdom as a whole toward the glass pane window that stood above the doorway. Her glass portrait had been completely removed and replaced with a signature green ‘L’. Although, this wasn’t the ‘L’ she was accustomed to. This one was mirrored. “...but I think I have an idea,” she continued, her memory briefly flashing back to the dream she had about a week before.

Peach, in fact, did have an idea. Picking up her dress just a tad so she wouldn’t trip on it, she ran into the castle, Dreambert following close behind. Ignoring the new 'renovations' to the castle, Peach ran straight to the throne room where her suspicions were proven correct.

Her throne was scattered throughout the room. A remnant of a previous dream. Behind the former throne was a large hole in the wall leading to the deep woods.

“I have a question,” Peach propped up, turning to her pi'illo friend, “Is it possible for two people to have the same dream at the same time by any chance?”

“Of course, why do you ask?" He asks in return.

"Well, I had a dream about a week ago that took place in this very same room and... Had this," she gestured at the pieces scattered throughout the room and the large hole in the wall, "As the outcome. After that, I saw him walk through this hole… I know it's a long shot but, what if he's in there," Peach pointed to the deep forest that spread out behind the castle.

Dreambert looked through the temporary window to the forest, eyes widening in anxiety at the thought of having to search the entire area. If it wasn't for the fact that he was helping his friends, he would have called it quits right then and there. He turned back to Peach and let out an uneasy smile. "Let's go find him."

~~~~~

Peach and Dreambert hiked through the woods, sticking close by one another in case something had the gall to attack them. The eerie sounds of the forest were eating away at Peach. She needed to break the fearful silence between her and the pi'illo.

"So," she began, quickly trying to think of a conversation topic. One, in particular, intrigued her. "Why is it possible for two people to have the same dream exactly?" She asked, curiously.

Dreambert's ears perked up. He hasn't exactly thought of this for quite some time but was fascinated by such a memory. "Well, it's a rarely used tactic that we like to call 'Dream Merging'." The prince began to explain. "Dream merging is either an unintended gift or it is trained into a being. Those who train to use it, use it to transport a set of… well, anything… through the dream word from one area to another. Those who naturally have it don’t know it. They merge dreams by accident. Their dreams merge with those nearby who the dreamer has a strong emotional connection to. Hence why you and Luigi must have shared a dream."

The idea of such a feat captivated Peach. "I bet him and Mario shared dozens of dreams in the past and brushed it off like some weird twin thing," she laughed, Dreambert lightly chuckling.

~~~~~

In the trees over the woods, Mr. L sat on a branch, secretly watching his dopplegänger who sat on a downed tree, thinking to himself. It had been about two days in this world since anything remotely interesting had happened. From time to time, Mr. L liked to summon some kind of enemy to give Luigi a little scare for his enjoyment, but for the most part, it was just waiting.

A rustle in the trees could be heard, the two's heads turning simultaneously in the direction of the sound. Peach, followed by Dreambert emerged from behind a tree. Mr. L's eyes lit up, it was finally his chance to be free. He climbed to the top of the tree he sat upon, making his way over the forest. He looked throughout the tips of the trees, finding a small part of a large multi-colored cloud. 

Before making his way towards it, he looked back down to Luigi, Peach, and the pillow. If they came from the forest, they'd know the way out. Mr. L snapped his fingers, the forest beginning to… shuffle itself in an attempt to throw off their sense of direction. Satisfied, he turned back around, jumping from tree to tree towards his freedom.

~~~~~

A dizzying sensation washed over the three but was quickly shaken off. Upon seeing the princess, Luigi gasped, turning away from her, ashamed.

"Luigi?" She asks, carefully taking a step forward to him. "Are you okay?"

It was hard for him to ignore her. He contemplated running deeper into the forest before taking a quick glance over his shoulder to her. Peach was her usual self, not afraid of him at all, unlike back in the castle. He found it odd that her injuries had cleared up so fast. Did he lose track of time? Surely not, but whatever had been going on, he really wanted an explanation. "Are you… afraid of me?" He had to ask, keeping his back turned to her.

A confused look spread across her face. She glanced at Dreambert who looked equally as confused. "I-what? Of course not!" She replied.

"Are you sure?" He turned to her, keeping his eyes to the ground. "Back at the castle, you seemed pretty scared and… I don't know what happened, but… I don't want to hurt you again," he slid down the tree log to further himself from her.

Peach shook her head. "You didn't hurt me." Luigi looked up at the sound of the words. "I don't know what's been going on around here, but I've come to help you," Peach began to explain, Luigi's head cocked to the side in uncertainty. "You see, you're in a dream. You've been asleep for four days now and we're here to get you out of here."

Luigi stared back to the ground, things started to make sense again. He sighed in relief the breath he had forgotten he had been holding.

"Thank you," he smiled to her, "But, how do we get out of here?"

Peach opened her mouth to speak before immediately closing it. She looked around, completely forgetting where they had come from.

They were lost.


	7. Chapter 7

Mario sighed. He didn't know how much time had passed since Peach had entered the portal, but he did know it was a long time. He was bored.

Mario stood from the chair and stepped out of the room to find something to do. He first thought to find something to eat but immediately shot that idea down because it would be rude to go through the castle’s kitchen. He turned to the back of the castle, noticing the throne.

He looked back and forth to confirm no one was watching. No one was around. He chuckled and climbed into the seat, smiling. He felt like royalty. It was fun. For all of five seconds.

Mario sighed again. He felt alone. The castle was uncomfortably quiet. At this point in time, Luigi would have stuttered out a joke and Peach would laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. The thought of it made him crack a light smile, but things around the castle haven't been the same since his brother started having nightmares.

The once cheerful atmosphere was quickly replaced with a more dull one before turning downright gloomy. Mario wanted things to go back to the way they were but had a feeling it would take a lot more work than just sitting around.

He stood up from Peach's throne to continue the vast exploration of the castle. Not too off from the throne room was a library with more books than Mario swears he had seen in his whole life. Surely something in this room could help him cure his boredom and clear his mind.

~~~~~

Peach spun herself in a circle trying to remember the way out, pointing every which way. She couldn't remember where they had come from. "I… I don't know," Peach responded to Luigi. The two turned to Dreambert, assuming he could find the way out.

Dreambert looked between the two, pursing his lips into a nervous smile. They didn't say anything to him, but he knew what they were asking. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking mental search throughout the dream world. Shortly after, his eyes shot back open.

Turning around, he told the two, "It's in this direction," and headed off to the forest, Peach and Luigi in tow.

Mr. L swung from tree to tree, branch to branch, when he saw, in the corner of his eyes, a smidge of orange, pink, and green. They were making way to the portal too. Dammit, he thought. He needed to slow them down.

Mid-jump from his next swing, he snaps his fingers. Suddenly, hundreds of off-colored enemies littered the ground. Gray goombas, white koopas, green shy guys, blue bob-ombs, scattered all over the place. He laughs to himself as he only gets closer to his freedom.

Luigi, Peach, and Dreambert stopped dead in their tracks as they were instantaneously surrounded. 

"The only way out is through them," Dreambert stated, gesturing the little he could to the swarm.

"Then through them, we go," Peach replied defensively, drawing her parasol as if it were a weapon.

Mr. L stopped at the foot of the forest, hopping down from the trees, distracted by the aura the dream portal was emitting. This was it. His freedom. The first part of his plan was nearing completion. He could not contain his excitement.

Taking a running start, Mr. L dove head-first into the portal

~~~~~

On the outside world, Mr. L stuck his head out of the portal to the room. It was empty. Perfect. He quickly jumps out of the portal, landing shakily on his feet. He wasn't used to having his own legs, his own limbs, or even his own body.

He felt around for a little bit before pressing his hands to his cheeks, feeling himself smile. He was finally free. Mr. L realized that someone could find him out at any moment. He needed to make a run for it.

With his new legs, he bolted out of the room, leaving the castle, and making a break towards the bros.' house, taking occasional breaks in awe of his new body.

Mario returns to the room shortly after, a blue book now in his hands, and sits back on the chair in the corner of the room.

~~~~~

A shockwave could be felt throughout the dreamworld. Anything created in this world was knocked back by it. Trees, enemies, Luigi. Luigi is pushed to the ground by the wave while Peach only felt it as a gust of wind.

Dreambert was even knocked back a tad. The feeling unsettled him. He knew that something wasn't right. Something had just left the dream world.

An overhead fly guy was pushed back by the wave, causing it to lose its grip on the bob-omb it was holding. The sentient explosive fell to the ground and landed on its stubby little legs. It starts to tick as it walks over to Luigi.


	8. Chapter 8

Now frozen in fear, Luigi watches the bob-omb step closer to him. Peach turns around, seeing her green friend terrified. She rushes over, parasol in hand, and smacks the Bob-omb away, causing it to collide with a nearby fly guy.

Peach offers him a hand up and he accepts it. Around them, the enemies just kept on coming.

"There's too many of them! We can't fight them all," Peach said, batting off a stack of Goombas.

"We need to go! We're almost to the portal. Run!" Dreambert advised.

Peach and Luigi gladly took this advice and bolted towards the portal, jumping on or over any enemy that stood in their path.

Not too long later, they stopped right outside the portal. Its multicolored swirls were both relieving and mesmerizing to look at. Luigi offered to jump in first. Bending his legs, he jumped to the portal, his head hitting on something before he fell to the ground.

Dreambert flew over to him, the look on his face clearly showed he had forgotten about something. "Oh my," he began, "I may have forgotten that you… can't actually leave…" he smiled sheepishly.

"What?! You're saying we spent all this time looking for him and we can't even get him out of here?" Peach nearly shouted. Dreambert pursed his lips and nodded, floating back about a foot.

Peach wasn't about to take that as an answer. She was determined to get Luigi out of this dream. Grabbing him by the wrist, Peach jumped to the portal, she made it through, but her arm was snagged partway through.

Now halfway out of the portal, Peach held Luigi's hands trying to pull him through. An invisible barrier was preventing him from doing so. The pressure of being forced through this pressed hard against his hands. Luigi gritted his teeth in pain.

"Peach!" Dreambert shouted, "Stop! This isn't going to work!" Peach ignored his shouts, she was determined to wake her friend up.

Mario looked up, confused. Seeing Peach dangling from the portal made him think something was going on. His first instinct was to jump up, hold her by the waist, and pull her down. It didn't work. He planted his feet onto the bed and continued to pull, despite not knowing what was going on.

Back in the dream world, Dreambert noticed the pain that Luigi felt was only increased, more pressure was being forced upon him. That was until a loud crack could be heard throughout both worlds. Luigi suddenly jolted into the portal, not through the portal, just into it. He, Mario, and Peach were thrown off guard. Dreambert, on the other hand, knew what was coming next. His eyes widened as he poofed out of existence from the dream world.

Not even a second later, the dream portal exploded, throwing Mario and Peach across the small room.

Luigi's eyes snapped open, him shooting up from the bed. He looked around confused, trying to figure out what had just happened, as his rapid breathing began to slow. His temporary look of confusion faded to a relieved smile. Mario sat up, rubbing his head from the recent blast, looked up to his brother, returning the look. Peach sat up next, dizzied. She blinked her eyes as her vision slowly returned to her. Looking up to the bed, she squinted, a green blur looking down to her. Her vision returned, it was nothing more than her friend smiling at her. A smile formed on her face as well.

Luigi was awake.

~~~~~

The first thing Mr. L wanted to do was to escape his lousy getup. Having finally freed himself from Luigi’s mind, he was in similar clothes to his green dopplegänger. He headed back to Mario and Luigi’s house. He may not have ever stepped foot in the real world, but he certainly knew his way around.

Upon arriving, he went straight for the closet, knowing full well that Luigi never bothered to throw out what he was looking for. Tucked in the corner of his closet was a small blue box labeled ‘costumes’. Mr. L rolled his eyes as he took off the lid and removed a pink dress from the top of the old pile of clothes. Underneath that, was a pitch-black jumpsuit neatly folded with a similar cap to his own, this one with a black emblem and mirrored ‘L’, placed neatly on top of it.

He smiled maliciously as he took them out of the box. He looked at his new attire and laughed to himself, “Guess who's back!”


	9. Chapter 9

Mr. L hopped the large concrete wall into Peach's courtyard, careful to avoid the large mass of flowers scattered about. He made his way towards the pink gate that separated the castle from the garden, cautiously slipping through it to cause as little noise as possible.

The warp room, a room full of warp pipes, was across the hall from the outside gate, and Mr. L's first stop. He walked slowly through the hall, taking a quick peek into open doorways to make sure it was clear.

One room, in particular, actually stopped him in his tracks. Of all the rooms, this one wasn't empty. Taking a peek in the room, he saw Peach, Dreambert, Mario, and Luigi sitting around a small table discussing something.

"Something is out there. I don't know what it is, but if it was smart enough to leave the dream world, it could potentially pose a threat," Dreambert continued his explanation of something Mr. L didn't hear the beginning.

He knew that they were talking about him, however, but that just meant he needed to be extra careful. He quickly stepped across the doorway, nearly losing his balance with the large step.

The next door down was the room he was looking for. In it, were pipes scattered all over the place. All with their own color pallet and label. In front of him, four pipes stood out. A yellow-orange one labeled 'Sarasaland', a white-green one labeled 'Beanbean Kingdom', a gray-orange one labeled 'Pi'illo Island', and a black-red one labeled 'Bowser's Castle - Remove when possible'.

This last one, however, was different from the others. This one was blocked off by some sort of cover, presumably to keep anything from entering or exiting. Mr. L simply slid off the cover and jumped in, ready for part one of his plan.

Mr. L stuck his head out of the warp pipe, the warm air from the lava brushing against his skin. It was difficult to breathe here, on account of the heat. Climbing out of the pipe, he tripped over the edge, sending him face-first into the hot asphalt, and sending a stinging sensation through his face. He picked himself up and looked around. 

Bowser’s castle stood alone on its own island, a moat of lava surrounding it. A much larger island surrounded the castle, a metallic bridge connecting them.

Mr. L ran to the bridge into Bowser's castle. The soles of his shoes pounded hard against the bridge, the metallic sounds echoing throughout the kingdom, alerting all sorts of enemies, including King Bowser himself.

A magikoopa, emerging from the side of the castle, charged towards Mr. L on its broomstick. It pointed its wand towards him, shooting two blue balls of pure energy. Mr. L jumped over the first one, then the second before jumping once more. This time, over the magikoopa, snatching its wand in the process. Upon landing, he pointed the wand towards it, launching another ball of energy to the broomstick, causing the magikoopa to crash into the bridge, all without looking back.

Mr. L now stood in front of the gates to Bowser's castle. He gave it a light push. Locked. He glanced at the magic wand that he held, getting an idea. He pointed the wand to the middle of the gates, where he figured the lock mechanism would be and charged it up. Looking away from the imminent blast, Mr. L sent the ball of energy not only through the gate but through the room that accompanied it.

Mr. L pushed the door again. This time, it opened right up. With a smile, he snapped the wand in half over his knee and threw it off the island into the lava.

~~~~~

Bowser sat in his throne that sat adjacent to the front gate. Now alerted by an unknown presence, he sat ready to attack, a small entourage of his minions ready to assist. A blue ball shot through the gate and across the room, narrowly missing the king's throne and leaving a singed mark in the wall. This only ticked Bowser off, his claws beginning to dig into the armrests of his chair.

The gates open just a tad before opening completely, revealing a single Mario brother in rather unusual attire. Now, Bowser was just confused.

"Green-stache?" Bowser loosed the grip he had on the throne and sighed in relief, "For a second there, I thought I should be worried." As Bowser talked, Mr. L slowly walked closer to him.

Bowser immediately crossed his arms. "I have not kidnapped Peach in about two weeks. What do you want with me?" He asked, growing rather impatient.

"I'm not here about the whereabouts of the princess, I actually have a proposal for you," Mr. L responded, now at the foot of the throne.

Bowser raised an eyebrow.

"I challenge you to a duel!" Mr. L exclaimed, pointing towards the Koopa king, a confident smile on his face for extra 'flair'.

Bowser broke out into laughter, a couple of his minions joining in. "What is this, the middle ages? Why would I possibly do that?" He asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

"I figured you'd ask, that's why I propose a wager," Mr. L now crossed his arms, "If you win, I can guarantee you a takeover of the Mushroom Kingdom."

This caught Bowser's attention. All it took was a fight with the wimpiest of the Mario duo and the Kingdom he wished to overthrow was his. It sounded almost too good to be true.

"...but," Mr. L continued, "If I win, I get your kingdom."

There was the catch.

Bowser looked away from Mr. L, not showing any concern in his eye, but he felt it. He didn't want to admit it, but he definitely felt some concern. "As if. Like I would ever fork over my kingdom to someone of the likes of you."

"What's the matter? Don't think you could take on little ol' me?" Mr. L taunted, knowing full well Bowser doesn't make the right decisions when he's angry.

Bowser took offense to that statement. "Of course I could! I can snap you like a damn twig!" Steam emitted from his nostrils as he exhaled in anger.

"Then what's the harm of a little battle?"

"Alright, it's on! You. Me. Battle. Koopa Stadium. Winner gets the loser's kingdom!" Bowser was having none of this. He was ready to pummel this cocky little bastard into the ground.

Mr. L simply smiled for little did Bowser know, he had a trick up his sleeve. It was all coming together.


	10. Chapter 10

The stadium erupted in cheers. Goombas, koopas, shy guys, and a large variety of Bowser's other minions sat in the yellow-green patterned stands surrounding the center island, which itself was surrounded by an empty moat dubbed the 'dead zone'.

Mr. L stood on one side, eager to fight, while Bowser stood on the other, ready to unleash his anger upon his opponent. In the middle, a cloud of blue smoke appeared. Upon it, emerged Kamek, a magikoopa.

"Welcome, fellow minions, to Koopa Stadium!" He greeted the crowd to be met with cheers. "Our ruler, King Bowser, has been challenged to a battle by the masked green man," he gestured to the competitors. The crowd booed to Mr. L, who simply smiled, basking in the not-so-glorious spotlight.

"Last one standing, wins. Falling into the dead zone results in instant disqualification," Kamek explained the rules before raising his wand. "Ready?...Set…Fight!" He pointed his wand down, disappearing back into the cloud with a horn sound, signaling the start of the battle.

~~~~~

Mario and Luigi were walking back from Peach's castle. Mario was ultimately glad his brother was awake again. Luigi on the other hand…. He wasn't sure himself. Luigi was glad he was back in the real world and all, but he couldn't help but think something, or even someone, was planning against the both of them, if not, the whole kingdom.

He rubbed his arm in thought but was snapped out of it by the sound of his brother's voice in an attempt to break the silence between them.

"So, you've been out for quite some time. I bet you had some interesting dreams in there," Mario spoke, trying to get his brother to talk.

Luigi only glanced to the floor, indicating he didn't want to talk about it. 

"Oh, don't want to talk about it? I understand," Mario nodded.

Luigi had not wanted to talk about anything recently. Even before he was asleep for half a week. Luigi has been awfully distant. Mario knew something was up, but he could never get an answer out of his brother. 

“Hey. I've noticed you haven't really said much recently. It’s kind of… worrying. Is something wrong?” He had to ask again. It felt a little excessive since he's essentially asked the same question every day for half a month.

Luigi's attention snapped to his brother. Out of reflex, he commented, “No, of course not. Everything's fine.” He was, in fact, not fine. He knew what he was doing was greatly concerning his brother, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that something was wrong as it may only concern Mario even more. A few seconds after he commented, Luigi exclaimed in pain. It felt like someone had punched in the stomach.

All of Mario's attention was now on Luigi. If he was concerned then, he was even more worried now. Luigi clutched his stomach before noticing Mario was looking right at him. He gave a fake smile and thumbs up. Mario's face sported a confused expression before turning his attention back on the road ahead. 

Something was definitely wrong with Luigi and Mario desperately wanted to find out. Not just for curiosity's sake, but for his brother’s too.

Luigi knew that something was wrong. Something's been wrong for quite a while and he hasn't told anybody, but this was new. Another sharp pain struck him, this one in the side of the head. His vision temporarily blurred and his ears rang. He bit his lip in an attempt to not yelp to not alert Mario.

He was hoping to figure out a way to put a stop to this and quick before it was too late.

~~~~~

Mr. L slid to a stop, his foot slipping off the edge of the platform. Taking a few steps forward, he collapsed, falling to his hands and knees.

Bowser laughed, "Ha! That was way too easy. What were you even thinking challenging me?" He began to inch closer to the soon-to-be defeated foe, with many ideas to end this.

Mr. L looked up, his cheek bruised and lip busted. His opponent charged to him, he breaking out a smug look. Things were just about to get started.

Bowser let out a ball of fire towards Mr. L, who jumped up, avoiding it entirely. Bowser nearly gasped at the sight of his formerly fallen opponent who was now back on his feet. This didn’t stop him, however. If anything, this only made him angrier. Now only a few feet from Mr. L, he clawed at him, only to miss as Mr. L jumped once more, this time, over the large turtle and kicking him in the back of the shell, nearly causing him to lose his balance. Bowser turned to face his opponent again, balling his hands into a fist.

Mr. L did the same, his hands beginning to spark with electricity. With a smirk, he tauntingly winked to him,

Bowser stood confused for a second but quickly shook it off, charging to him again. The two set out a flurry of punches upon one another. Mr. L’s punches definitely felt stronger and the electricity coming from them was weakening the Koopa king.

Bowser sent out one more punch, this one stronger than the last few, only to miss again. Mr. L ducked to avoid this hit and immediately returned it with an uppercut, sending him into the air and down to the pit surrounding the platform.

The sparks emitting from Mr. L’s hands subsided as he shook them. He had won but felt it wasn’t the end.

The blue cloud reappeared above the stadium, quickly fading away to reveal Kamek once again. He flew around Mr. L a few times before raising Mr. L’s hand above his head. “Ladies and gentlemen. We have a winner! The unlikely assailant and your new ruler, Mr. Lime-green!,” Kamek exclaimed.

Mr. L turned to the Magikoopa. “I do prefer to be called ‘Mr. L’,” he corrected him.

“Your new leader, Mr. L!” Kamek quickly righted himself.

Those words rung in Bowser's ears. No one was taking over his kingdom under his watch. He dug his claws into the side of the platform and climbed his way back up.

Mr. L watched the former King climb back onto the platform, “Oh, you're back. Come to give me my crown, I assume?” He taunted.

Bowser marched over to him, obviously upset about his loss, but his face read pure spite. “As if I’d hand over my kingdom to someone of the likes of you,” He responded.

“But you remember the rules. I won this kingdom fair and square,” Mr. L reminded him in a mocking tone.

“I'm the king. I don't do ‘fair and square’.” Bowser reached over to Kamek, snatching his wand from his grip before putting it towards his feet. The wand activated, surrounding him in a cloud of smoke. The cloud grew in size as well as Bowser, three times normal size.

The crowd gasped, but Mr. L was unfazed. Bowser was determined to get the Mushroom Kingdom while Mr. L was determined to get Bowser's. The battle wasn't over, but the fun had definitely begun.

Bowser unleashed a large stream of fire to Mr. L. It was too large to be jumped over, but was slow enough to outrun. Mr. L ran to the left, making a circle around the platform as the stream followed him with a turn of Bowser's head.

Mr. L eventually ended up behind Bowser. Before he had the time to grab Bowser's tail, Bowser jumped and turned around, making his tail just out of reach. Mr. L's tripped over his own feet as he missed. He planted both feet on the ground before he could lose his balance.

Bowser stomped over to Mr. L, trying to crush him under his weight. Cockily, Mr. L stepped out of the way of each of Bowser's stomps, occasionally jumping over them. This only caused Bowser to stomp even faster.

Eventually, they became too fast for even Mr. L to dodge. One foot came crashing down, Mr. L raising his hands over his head and using all of his strength to keep it from crushing him. Bowser applied even more pressure to drive him into the ground, but Mr. L only returned it with more and more strength.

As Mr. L exerted more and more force, his whole being began to spark. It started off with a few sparks from here and there, but now it was full-fledged lightning surrounding him. Mr. L pushed Bowser's into the air, causing him to lose balance.

Seeing this as an opportunity, he spread his arms out before slamming them together in a clap formation. A wave of lightning shot from his hands, completely knocking over Bowser's other foot and stopping at the painted stone wall behind him.

The beast fell over, giving Mr. L a chance for a finishing move. He ran over Bowser and grabbed his tail, spinning around in circles before throwing him into the air. Mr. L then jumped beside him, holding his hands together as large amounts of electricity were surging from them. With a malicious smile, Mr. L slammed his hands against Bowser, spiking him to the ground. 

Bowser hit the ground. Hard. He left a large crater where he laid. Mr. L landed on the ground next to him, watching as the magic from Kamek's wand was wearing off, causing Bowser to shrink back to his original size.

Kamek, who had been pushed to the sidelines, flew over to Bowser. He had been knocked unconscious by the fall, unable to object to his status about to be handed over.

Kamek and grabbed back his wand from Bowser's grip and flew back over to Mr. L. "So, Mr. L, now that this kingdom is all yours, what are you going to do first?" He asked him, the crowd stopped their constant cheering, quiet to hear the new king's first words.

"Prepare the arsenal," Mr. L spoke, "We're going to war."


	11. Chapter 11

The vast desert ran quickly beneath them. Mr. L sat in an oversized clown car, previously owned by Bowser. A battalion of minions follows behind, separated and sorted by rows based on species. Columns of fly guys carrying bob-ombs, followed by columns of paratroopas then paragoombas.

Originally, Mr. L's plan was to go straight to the Mushroom Kingdom after Bowser's defeat yesterday, but the rush of adrenaline he got from it made him want more. The one place he would know would satisfy his thirst for power was Sarasaland. Not only for their next time no defenses, but Sarasaland was made of not one, but four kingdoms, and all four ruled by one person to boot. This should be easy, he thought.

In the horizon, the group of kingdoms faded into view. This was when Mr. L sent out the rows of fly guys to drop bob-ombs across the cities to grab the Sarasaland princess’s attention. He grinned maniacally at the sight.

~~~~~

Luigi opened his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. Another nightmare. He found himself lying on the couch in the living room. On the opposite side of the room, Mario sat in a chair, reading a book.

Hearing a rustle from the couch, Mario looked up from his book. Relieved that his brother wasn't subject to be trapped in another abnormally long dreamstate, he placed the book on the arm of the chair and stood up, walking over to the couch. Luigi instinctively sat up, thinking his brother would sit with him. He did not.

“Hey bro,” Mario spoke, “Glad you're up. I talked to Peach earlier and we are very worried about you. She wants us to meet up with her so we can find out a way to help you,” He explained.

“Oh no, you got it all wrong. Like I keep saying, nothing is wrong with me,” Luigi lied, knowing full well he was only digging himself in a deeper hole.

“Luigi, you know you're lying, I know you're lying, we all know you're lying. Please, just admit that something is wrong.”

Luigi only shut up. Mario was on to him. He had no excuses, but he also has no explanation on what was going on with him.

Mario walked to the front door, before turning back to Luigi. “Come on, me and Peach want to talk to you,” he told him.

~~~~~

Daisy walked outside her castle, escorted by two toad guards, to the war zone that stood outside it. It had been years since someone had tried to take over yet the kingdoms were still not prepared for such a thing.

It had always been assumed that Sarasaland had some kind of defenses, that's why no one's bothered to try and take over in ages. That and the fact it was practically in the middle of nowhere. Not many people knew Sarasaland’s exact location or the fact that it was practically defenseless. The person behind this clearly knew this, but the only people she knows that know this were close friends.

She braced to inevitably be stabbed in the back.

A figure neared the castle, presumably the one behind all this. Daisy squinted her eyes at the mystery intruder before they widened in shock. Of all people, this one person would be the last one she’d expect.

They approached the foot of the castle and greeted Daisy with a smile, “Hello, princess.”

“L-Luigi? What are- What's with the getup?“ Was her first question. Yes, she did find it odd that Luigi, of all people, would be a part of some sort of invasion, but with the strange outfit, something struck her as definitely wrong with him. 

“Oh, this? Just a change of attire, but that's not important,” Luigi, or rather, Mr. L, jumpsuit a light tug before shrugging.

Daisy gave him a befuddled look. “What's the meaning of this?” she asked.

“I just came to stop by, say ‘hello’, and take over your kingdom, it's nothing much,” he responded quickly, glossing over his last point.

Her eyes widened in shock once more, but she laughed it off, “What? Are you serious? ‘Cause, if I'm honest, you're kind of the last person I'd ever expect a ‘takeover’ from.” She said to him. His maniacal, yet simultaneously innocent, grin was all she needed to know that he wasn't kidding. “But, if you are serious, I can't just give you my kingdoms. They've been entrusted into my hands and I'm not going to hand them out like candy.” Daisy was beginning to get agitated.

Mr. L simply shrugged, “Figured as much. I know you would never give me your kingdom if I asked. So I'm going to demand it.” Upon finishing his sentence, the two toad guards secured a grip on their weapons. They felt that something was about to go wrong. 

“N-no! Luigi, what has gotten into you? I am not giving you these kingdoms!” She exclaimed, her agitation now rising to anger.

“I'm not going to fight you for this… yet... I see no reason to...” Mr. L was surprisingly calm. Usually, people who visibly anger the Sarasaland princess, back down in fear of her rage, but Mr. L showed no change in emotion. “...but, I would recommend you should start to show me some respect soon, because to me... “ He took a step closer, plucking Daisy’s crown from her head, “...you are nothing more than a peasant,” He practically spits in her face.

This absolutely pissed her off. Before her guards could do anything about this, she pushed them out of the way and right-hooked Mr. L in the face.

Mr. L stumbled backward, rubbing his now bruised cheek. He turned back to Daisy. The cheeky smile he had on his face was now replaced with an infuriated look. Sparks flew from not only his now balled-up fists but throughout his entire body. He disappointedly shook his head to her

The guards backed down. This was a next-level threat. Daisy's anger was now fear. She was immediately filled with regret.


	12. Chapter 12

Luigi was sat at the u-shaped table of a conference room, Peach sitting on the interior side across from him and Mario next to him. The two tried to talk to him, but he didn't respond. He sat quietly, staring to the ground. His hat covering his eyes so neither Peach nor Mario could tell his expression.

“Luigi, listen. I understand that this might be overwhelming, if not, annoying, for us to be asking you about this so often, but... are you… doing okay?” Peach asked. She was just as concerned for him as Mario was. She expected more silence but was met with a very unusual response. 

“Lay off,” Luigi simply responded. His tone of voice was very different from the ones that are used to. It was almost as if... he was angry, an emotion neither she nor his brother were familiar with him having.

Mario, who had been leaning on his hand, sat up with a confused look. “Bro, we’re just trying to help. You've been acting very different lately. Are you sure you don't want to tell us what's wrong?” he asked.

“Get off my back, okay?” Luigi finally looked up and turned to Mario for a moment before looking back down. 

Mario unconsciously moved back in a seat a bit. The look in his brother's eyes was unsettling, to say the least. There have been moments where Luigi had been quite annoyed, but this anger he was showing off was a rare occurrence. Mario felt like if he asked any more questions, someone was going to get hurt.

“Luigi, I understand you're getting frustrated with us about us berating you with all these questions, but we're not going to stop asking until we know how to help you,” Peach informed him. She was a tad afraid of Luigi's new attitude but did her best not to show it. “So, please answer us this. What's wrong?”

“What part of leave me alone do you not understand?” Luigi snapped. His new-found anger was building up and needed to be let out. He had no idea what he was doing or why, but he had the feeling to just... yell. “It's always the same thing with you guys. ‘What's wrong?’ ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Do you need help?’ All the damn time! I'm sick of it! I don't know what's wrong. I don't know if I need help. And I definitely am not okay! I need to figure this shit out by myself instead of relying on you guys like a kid. I am a grown-ass adult and I need to figure these things out on my own.” He stands up from the table in a huff, the chair loudly scraping against the floor. “I'm going home. When you guys are done treating me like a child, you can meet me at home.” He leaves.

Mario and Peach just sat there, mouth agape, absolutely speechless on what had just happened. Luigi has never ‘snapped’ before. The whole thing was just unexpected. They looked to each other for questions or answers, but neither of them could form the words.

Luigi angrily stormed out of the castle, making it just outside before finally processing the previous event. He just yelled at his friends. Just the thought of it hurt him, but actually doing it? It already broke his heart. He leaned against the castle wall, taking a deep breath before breaking out into tears. He had no idea why he was so angry, but now, because of it, he was just very upset.

He assumed whatever was going on was just Mr. L messing with his mind like he always does. He needed help. He didn't want to admit it, but he definitely wanted his friends to help, but he thought, by yelling at them, he wasn't going to get that help.

The more upset he got, the more anger he felt. His anger, mixed with his sorrow, was making it hard for him to think rationally. He was trying to calm down, but his anger told him things like, ‘they hate you now’ ‘you can't go back to them’ ‘they won't help you’ And that only made him even more upset.

He felt something building up inside of him, it wasn't an emotion, but whatever it was, it wasn't good.

~~~~~

Daisy fell back, holding her hand over her nose. She twitched as a bolt of electricity ran down her spine. She moved her hand, spotting a small splotch of blood on it. Balling her fists, she stood up. As terrified as she was at this ability she has never seen from him, she also was not letting him get away with it.

She went for a punch to the stomach but was stopped when Mr. L's hand grabbed hers mid hit. He tried to punch right back but was stopped with his own move being used against him. Both Mr. L and Daisy strained, trying to break free from the others’ strong grip.

Then, a single tear rolled from his eye and down his cheek. He felt a sudden gloomy feeling rolling over him, catching him completely off guard. Daisy noticed this sudden change of emotion and used this as an opportunity to free her hands from his grip and punch him in the stomach, causing him to stumble back once again. This time, he tripped over his own feet, landing on the ground. 

Mr. L wiped the tear from his face and rolled to the side, avoiding another hit and the princess. He found it difficult to fight. It made him angry, but the more angry he got, the stronger the feeling of sadness was getting. It was very distracting.

Standing back up to his feet, Mr. L charged to Daisy, determined to get that crown. Of course, he was met with his hands restrained by her again. Tears ran faster down his face, but he tried to ignore it. Daisy gave him a look of confusion.

Mr. L wasn't too happy about this look he got from her. He felt like he was coming off as ‘weak’. It only angered him more. He wanted -- no, needed -- to win this crown. He sent a wave of electricity from his arms to hers.

Daisy gritted her teeth, trying her hardest to withstand the pain of a shock, but she couldn't hold it for long. It drained her energy. She let go of his hands and fell to the ground on her knees.

She looked up to Mr. L, watching as he drew back his arm, presumably for one last hit. She flinched, away from the forthcoming blow, but nothing happened. She looks back up to him. He stood frozen, twitching. A single spark emitting with each one.

Mr. L had no idea what was happening. While he was getting more and more angrier at his increasing level of sadness, I felt something else building up. It was no emotion, but whatever it was, he knew it wasn't good.

Mr. L had only been frozen for about three seconds before the power building up inside of him let out, in the form of an explosion of lightning. 

A ball of lighting radiated from Mr. L. Everything within a ten-foot radius was knocked back, with quite a great deal of force, including princess Daisy. She was sent back to the wall of the castle, hitting it. Hard, before falling unconscious to the ground.

This surge of electricity burned the ground beneath him and drained all of Mr. L’s energy. He fell shortly after Daisy to regain his energy.

~~~~~

The build-up of energy didn’t just affect Mr. L, but Luigi too. He released a ball of pure energy as well. The shockwave blew through a small field of flowers, practically uprooting them from the ground and leaving a similar burn mark beneath him. His vision blurred as he fell to the ground before going entirely black.

~~~~~

Luigi found himself back in the dream world. Everything was black and he was fully aware he was dreaming. He was waiting for something to happen, but… where was it?

A figure faded in from the dark and endless void. Who else could it be than Mr. L? Luigi sighed at this.

“Hello again, Green! Did you miss me?” Mr. L greeted happily. Beyond that suspicious smile, Luigi could tell he was behind something.

“What are you up to?” Luigi asked.

“Why do you ask?”

Luigi sighed again in annoyance. “Well… I did just get knocked out for no apparent reason and am now floating unconsciously in the void. I have to assume you played a part in this somehow,” he responded. He did not want to deal with Mr. L’s nonsense today, or at all.

“Hey, I don’t know what happened either. One minute I was fighting someone for their crown and the next thing I know, I’m here,” Mr. L defended. Luigi raised an eyebrow to this. Before he could intervene, Mr. L continued, “I assume it has something to do with you and your stupid emotions.

“My stupid emo- have you been messing with my emotions?” Luigi asked, offended.

“Of course not! I have so much more important things to do than messing with your head!” Mr. L exclaimed.

“What are you on about?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m free! Free from your mental prison. Free to do as I please. I would have gotten so much farther if your damn emotions didn’t get in the way!” It was Mr. L’s turn to be annoyed.

Luigi’s eyes widened. He knew what escaped from the dream world. It was a threat, but not just to him, but to the Mushroom Kingdom, or even the world. If his nightmares told him anything, it’s that he needs to find out how to stop this threat. And fast.

Mr. L felt a tingling sensation as his body began to fade away from the dream world. He smiled again, waving to his dopplegänger. “Oh? I’m drifting back into consciousness. I’ll see you when I see you. I certainly hope you’re ready because we’re going to have fun,” he chuckled as he completely faded out.

Luigi felt the sensation too, he began to fade out from the dream world too.

~~~~~

Mr. L shot up from the castle floor. Looking around, he spotted an unconscious Daisy, with her crown lying besides her. He crawled over to it and picked it up, smiling mischievously.

~~~~~

Luigi found himself awake back in the bed at Peach’s castle, both her and Mario at either side of him. Neither of them looked too happy. Luigi smiled nervously. He could tell they wanted answers.


	13. Chapter 13

Mr. L smiled mischievously at the crown that sat in his hands. He could feel the power surging through him. As he stood up, he felt something else. It was no build-up. It was no satisfaction. It was… empathy. Seeing Daisy knocked out on the ground, he felt bad.

He knew it wasn't Luigi's emotions that he was feeling this time. This time, it was his own. He tried to shake it out of his head and storm out of the castle, but stopped himself. As much as he hated the thought of it, he wanted to do something to help her. He sighed in frustration, turning back to the unconscious princess. He picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and walked into the castle.

Mr. L walked up a spiral staircase, gliding his free hand against the stone brick wall. He was glad that he knew the layout of the Sarasaland castle because he just wanted in and out. Fast. 

Upon exiting the staircase, he found himself in a hallway paved with those similar bricks. A long orange carpet laced with gold trim lined the hallway. The tinted glass panes lit the hall with an orange hue. Mr. L remembered that Luigi had only been in this hallway once or twice quite some time ago, but it was exactly like he remembered it.

At the end of the hallway was Daisy's bedroom where Mr. L carefully laid her onto her bed. He took a step back away from the bed and crossed his arms. He felt a hint, a smidge, a tiny bit of remorse, but he didn't want his unwanted feelings to get in the way of his plans.

He walked over to the door, taking one more glance at Daisy. The look on his face suggested he regretted what he did to her. He took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm sorry," to her before angrily storming out of the room, tightly gripping the crown in his hand.

~~~~~~

Luigi's eyes darted back and forth between Peach and Mario as he sat up. He broke out into a nervous sweat, a stressed look on his face. He knew they weren't too happy with him.

Luigi tried his hardest to not worry the two of them, but everything he did try only made the situation worse. Dodging questions, disconnecting from the outside world, even lashing out only made Peach and Mario ask more and more questions. He understood their concern but was unsure -- and rather afraid -- how they would take his explanation to the best of his own knowledge. He had questions and didn't want to answer any of theirs until he figured out answers himself.

Peach, who had her arms crossed, spoke up. "Luigi, your sudden and rapid change in demeanor is frankly quite concerning. We understand that you may be reluctant in-" she began but was interrupted mid-sentence by the red-clad brother across from her.

"Bro, we're just trying to help you. We can't help you if you don't know what's wrong. You can trust us. We're not going to turn our back on you. We care about you. All we want is an answer to 'What is wrong?'..." He nearly cried out. All of this worrying for his brother was starting to get to his head. As strong as he was, he was on the verge of having a mental breakdown.

Luigi could see it. This was the exact opposite of the result he wanted from hiding his problems. Peach shifted uncomfortably with the dull atmosphere he gave off and Mario was freaking out. He could no longer say he didn't want to worry them because that only worried them more. He felt horrible.

Luigi looked to the floor, attempting to blink back the tears forming in his eyes before quietly admitting, "...I need help."

The others perked up. A large wave of relief washed over them. They feared that Luigi would never wish to talk about his problems, but were glad to see that they could help him with whatever was going on.

Noticing that he now had Peach and Mario's full attention, he continued quietly. "You remember when Dreambert said something about something leaving the dream world? I think I know what it was…" he bit his lip. He wanted to just stop right there but knew that they would continue to press him for answers, so he continued, "...I think... Mr. L is back and is out there, somewhere, slandering my name."

Their eyes widened in shock, Peach putting her hand over her mouth and Mario placing both his hands onto the bed. "He's back? This is serious. Why didn't you tell us?" Peach asked. She was immediately thinking of some kind of plan.

Luigi began to twiddle his fingers. "Well… I didn't exactly know until just recently. I just thought he was just giving me more of those nightmares. I didn't want to tell you about him because I knew you guys were going to worry, but I see that not telling you wasn't a great idea either," he explained, looking to the ground, defeated. A tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm- I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I caused all of the stress and anger. I'm sorry for yelling at you guys. I didn't mean it! I didn't mean any of it! I- I-" he frantically apologized. He stopped as he felt two hands on either of the shoulders.

Both Peach and Mario put a reassuring hand on his shoulders. They gave him a light smile. Luigi sniffled and returned it. It was okay.

~~~~~

Mr. L stood at the upstairs balcony that overlooked where the four kingdoms met, Daisy's crown held behind his back. It was chaos. Citizens running and hiding all over the place. Minions chasing after them. Utter destruction among the buildings. The sight thrilled him.

He cleared his throat, "Attention people of Sarasaland!" He exclaimed. Everyone, citizens and minions alike, stopped dead in their tracks, equally as confused as to what was going on.

Mr. L continued, "Your kingdom is now under the rule of the Lime-Green Kingdom, formerly Bowser's Kingdom," he chuckled to himself. "From here on out, you are only to take orders from me or approved authoritarian figures, like my minions."

A toad crawled out of his hiding place underneath a pile of rubble, his friends trying their hardest to stop him. The toad quickly gathered up some courage and stood his ground. "We don't have to listen to you! Princess Daisy is going to put a stop to this, she'd never allow it! You're not going to get away with this!" He shouted.

Unamused, Mr. L gestured a group of paratroopas over to the unruly toad. They immediately flew over, restraining the toad while his friends watched in fear and discomfort, squeezing closer to one another inside the rubble pile.

Mr. L moved his hands from behind his back, resting his elbows in the balcony's banister. He began to spin the crown around his index finger. An audible gasp could be heard throughout the crowd. This was the reaction he was waiting for.

He jokingly placed the crown on his head and continued. "As your new leader, I'd like to lay down a few new rules. Rule one, no one is allowed to enter or leave the kingdom without permission. Rule two, any and all trades must be made through approved authoritarian figures. And three, any and all mail sent from and to the kingdom will have its contents thoroughly inspected before delivery."

He wanted to make things hectic for the kingdoms. He wasn't going to straight-up imprison them, that wasn't any fun, but he didn't want to just let them live life normally, that was too nice.

Mr. L had bigger plans than to just take over Sarasaland. He couldn't just stick around all day. He needed a little help. He clapped his hands together twice before the blue cloud of smoke appeared behind him again. It quickly faded to reveal his trusty Magikoopa. "Yes, sire?" Kamek asked, floating on his broomstick.

"As I have much more important things to get to, I leave Kamek to take my place in my absence," Mr. L announced before turning to the Magikoopa. "Are you up for the task?" He asked him. Kamek simply nodded with a smile.

Mr. L waved off to his substitute as he jumped over the balcony banister, landing with a roll to the dirt ground beneath him. He walked over to the clown car and climbed in, whistling to grab his minions’ attention. As the car began to take off, half of the minions followed behind.

Mr. L chuckled to himself. He has power. He has an army. The next thing he wanted was a certain red hero's head.


	14. Chapter 14

“Where do you think he could be?” Peach asked. Both she and Mario sat on either side of the bed, Luigi sitting up in the middle of it.

“Well, I did have this dream where I saw him on his way to Sarasaland. Maybe he's there," Luigi responded.

"Sarasaland? Daisy's place? Why would he go there? I thought he hated us, not her," Mario thought aloud.

Luigi shrugged, "I don't know. Power maybe? Sarasaland is made up of four kingdoms after all. But whatever he's doing there, I know it's not good."

~~~~~

Mario climbed out of the warp pipe, carefully stepping to the ground. Luigi followed right after, tripping over the rim of the pipe and to the ground with a quiet, but audible, “Owie.” Hearing his quiet exclamation, Mario turned to face him, rushing to help him off the ground.

The two wound up in Sarasaland’s warp room. It was vaguely similar to the Mushroom Kingdoms' except for the four green-colored pipes labeled to the adjacent kingdoms.

"Alright, you know this place better than I, so you can search the castle and I'll check the kingdom’s center for any hints to where he could be, okay?” Mario said as he and Luigi began to walk through the castle’s corridor.

“Just be safe, okay?” Luigi asked in a worried tone. Mario nodded before he reached the castle entrance, being careful as to not draw attention to himself.

~~~~~

Luigi began throughout the many rooms. For the most part, it was empty. There was the occasional toad from here and there, but most didn't notice Luigi was there. The ones that did, however, their reactions were… unwelcoming to say the least.

They all feared him. They either ran or hid from. They didn't want anything to do with him. He found it weird but he understood how they were feeling but he didn't like it.

The first floor of the castle was Mr. L free. Luigi made it to the staircase that connected the first and second floors. He carefully made his way up the stairs. He was only ever let up the stairs once or twice, but he still knew his way around, even if the hall was just a straight line. He poked his head in and out of each room, looking back and forth throughout each one. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, that wasn't until he reached the last door in the hall.

Luigi lightly pushed open the door with a flower in the middle of it. It was Daisy's room. Luigi looked back and forth throughout the room. It was fairly normal. He backed out of the room before realizing something caught his attention. He looked back in the room and there lied Daisy. Asleep. At least, that's what it looked like at first glance. 

She lied on her bed, hands to her side, Lightly breathing. The way she lay, facing to the ceiling, rather than her side, implied that someone placed her there. A large gash visible on her forehead and her nose was slightly bloodied. Someone had hurt her. 

Luigi ran over to the side of the bed. He had to help her. He reached into his overall pocket and pulled out a super mushroom. It was his last one. He gently placed it in her mouth and started to back out of the room. He didn't want her to be confused if she happened to wake up. 

He was only a few steps from the door when he heard a rustle, followed by a groan of discomfort. Luigi quickened his pace and had only placed a foot in the doorway when he heard her voice. 

“Luigi?” Daisy asked in her dazed state.

Luigi stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her, a nervous look on his face. Daisy has sat up. He marveled at the fact her injuries were already healed.

“What are you doing here?”

“I-” He stopped. He couldn’t tell her about Mr. L. “You looked like you needed help…”

“Help? You’re here to help? After what you did to me?” Daisy’s tone was rather harsh.

Luigi was simultaneously confused and afraid. “...After what I did?” He quietly asked himself.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know what you did!” She leaned forward and pointed a finger to him. “Please just- just go…” she leaned back into her pillows. Her tone shifted from slightly angered to a tad hurt. “I don’t know what you did out there, but I don’t want any more of it…”

Luigi's eyes widened. It was just like the dream he had the previous week. He knew he couldn't defend himself, no matter how hard he tried. He continued out of the room and down the steps, blinking back the tears that started to form in his eyes.

Mr. L was nowhere to be found. That was both a good and a bad thing. It was good because he wasn't terrorizing anyone in the castle, but it was bad because he was probably off terrorizing someone or someplace else.

~~~~~

Mario walked throughout the center town of Sarasasland. He was shocked at the sight of it all. Bowser's minions like parakoopas and goombas roamed the streets, toads hiding in alleys, making secretive trades of trivial things like food and water, others hiding out in the central town's ruins.

He did his best to lay low and not draw too much attention to himself. That was short-lived, however, as a toad bystander gasped at the sound of him. A couple of others turned in the direction of the sound. They ran towards him, surrounding him. They look like they've been through a lot. Cuts, bruises, ragged clothing. What happened here? 

They begin talking over one another. Concerns and relieved comments. Mario couldn't understand. “Please- please. One at a time,” He cut them off from their overlapping comments. 

One toad, in blue color, spoke up first. “Oh man, are we glad to see you,” he said in a relieved tone.

Another toad, this one green with small brown pigtails sticking from under her hat butted in. “That brother of yours. Something is really wrong with him,” she voiced her concern.

“Yeah, look what he's done to this place!” An angry yellow toad gestured to the chaos that surrounded them.

Mario shook his head at the thought of Luigi, his younger and much more innocent brother, doing such a thing. “You're saying… Luigi did this?” he asked. The group collectively nodded, muttering variations of ‘yes’.

“We would have asked for your help sooner, but he won't let us out of this place,” a quiet purple toad spoke up.

Mario was about to ask more questions when a blue cloud of smoke appeared before them. Mario was pushed out of the way behind a pile of rubble by the blue toad. From the cloud, appeared the temporary leader of the Kingdom, Kamek. He floated on his broomstick, staring daggers to the group of the remaining toads. They began sweating nervously as the Magikoopa carefully examined them before shrugging and flying off to terrorize some other toads.

Mario, along with the blue toad, poked his head from behind the pile. He looked to the group with a confused look, his head tilted to the side a bit.

“If Kamek catches you breaking the rules, who knows what happens to you?” the blue toad exclaimed. “And you’re breaking the first one!”

“No entering or exiting the kingdom without permission,” the green toad finished for him. “Your brother is not going to be too happy when he finds out about this.”

A question popped up in Mario is mind. “Do you guys by any chance know where he went? He asked.

The purple toad shook his head. “No, he had more ‘important things’ to do, whatever that means,” he shuddered.

Mr. L wasn't around. Mario needed to find Luigi so they could report back to Peach. “Don't worry guys, I'll put a stop to this. I'll help free your kingdom as soon as I can.” He said with a nod, starting to walk back to Daisy's castle to find Luigi.

~~~~~

Luigi clumsily stumbled down the castle, clearly in distress. He needed to find Mario and fast. Sure he didn't exactly like being ignored in the past, but this was no better. He didn't like the looks. He didn't like the fear he caused. He didn't like not being able to simply say hi to someone. He wanted to go back. Back to being ignored. Back to being just a shadow.

He tried his hardest to block them out but he knew they were there. He felt like a monster and he didn't even do anything. His breathing quickens as he held back tears. Everything felt like it was spiraling out of control. He couldn't take it.

Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't need to look to know whose it was. Almost instantly, most of his stress evaporated. He turned around to see Mario giving him a light smile. 

It was going to be okay.


	15. Chapter 15

“No sign of him?” Peach asked. 

Mario and Luigi shook their heads. Back in the conference room, they sat in the seats across from Peach. Mario sat back in his seat while Luigi rested his cheek on the palm of his hand.

“Hey,” Mario spoke up, turning to Luigi, Luigi returning the gaze. “Didn’t you mention something about seeing Mr. L in a dream?”

His attention now caught, Luigi sat straight up. He knew what his brother was up to.

“I just thought, if you were to go to sleep right now, do you think you'd be able to see what Mr. L is up to?” Mario asked.

“We can’t find out until we try,” Peach commented.

Peach led Mario and Luigi back to the small room where Luigi crawled onto the bed and lied down. Mario and Peach stood on either side of the bed giving him a smile as he quickly drifted off into sleep.

~

Luigi found himself in a room in Bowser's Castle. He couldn't move at his own free will. He could look around, however. Looking around, he could see he was back in his old jumpsuit. If he could, he would have shuddered at the sight of it. This wasn't his body. He was seeing through Mr. L's eyes.

Mr. L paced back and forth in front of a blackboard with bullet points on it, twiddling his fingers and talking to himself. “Alright, one more time. One more time,” he told himself, now facing the board. "Sneak into the house tomorrow afternoon. Green's taking a nap and Red should be at home by then. Pose as that feeble dopplegänger of mine. Let Red's guard drop and…" he giddily read off the board. "Oh, that oblivious blockhead would never see it coming!" He laughed maniacally to himself.

~

Outside the dream world, Mario and Peach watched Luigi attentively. It hadn't been too long since he fell asleep before a, rather peculiar, smile began to form on his face. From the smile, emerged giggles. These were no 'cheerful' giggles, they had a more 'sinister' meaning.

Mario, now confused, reached over and lightly poked Luigi in the side. "Bro..?" He said quietly before jumping back in exclamation as his brother say up with a gasp.

“I saw him!” Luigi suddenly blurted out, “I saw Mr. L!”

Now calm, Mario asked, “You did? Where is he?”

“He's at... Bowser's Castle…” He said with a twinge of uncertainty. He knew for a fact that Mr. L was in Bowser's Castle but had no idea why.

“Bowser's Castle?” Peach spoke up, “What's he doing over there?”

“He's playing attack. An attack on…” Luigi stopped. His attention shifted from Peach to Mario, his face drawing more concern than it was originally. “...On Mario…”He continued, quieter than before.

Mario was discomforted at the thought of his brother, or rather, his brother's look-alike, scheming anything against him. He and Luigi shared a look.

“But, it's nothing to worry about. I might have an idea!” Luigi gave a nervous smile.

~

Mario walked in the forest that laid just outside of the house, Luigi hiding in the trees next to him. They had only been walking for a few minutes when they heard a rustling in the tree. Luigi hid himself deeper into the forest, Mario getting in a defensive position.

From the trees emerged...Luigi? Mario didn't know what he expected. He knew the person standing before him was not his Luigi, but the resemblance was uncanny.

Mr. L, now back in his overalls, strolled with a smile through the forest. He contemplated his plan but was thrown completely off track seeing the red hero before him. “Oh? Hey, Mario… What are you doing out here?” He asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. The last thing he needed was to be suspicious.

“Just wanted to get some fresh air. I've been home all day. What are you doing out here? I thought you were taking a nap,” Mario asked in a partially teasing partially suspicious tone.

“I just wasn't tired. That's all.” A single stream of sweat rolled down Mr. L’s face. “But I'm glad I ran into you,” he said, changing the subject. “There's something I wanted to show you.” He stepped closer to Mario. His hands behind his back began to spark with electricity.

Out of reflex, Mario took a step back. He didn't know it was coming next, but he was ready for it. Luigi slowly inched his way through the trees, watching the two carefully.

“Do you by any chance remember a little thing called... thunderhand? Right as he spoke, Mr. L threw his hand from behind his back towards Mario, who caught it with his own hand before he could process what was going on.

After receiving a little shock through his gloves, Mario realized that Mr. L had Luigi's old powers. Powers that neither he nor his brother have used in years. Powers he wasn't sure he had the ability to control anymore. Surely, this was definitely not going to stop him. He pushed Mr. L back.

Mr. L stumbled backward. Before he could go in for another hit, he was restrained by someone behind him. It was Luigi. “You're not getting away with any more of this!” he shouted.

“Oh yeah? Who's going to stop me?” Mr. L swung arms to the side, throwing Luigi off his back. It was Luigi’s turn to fall back. He wasn’t going to let Mr. L stop him that easily. Mr. L turned around to Luigi who start to charge to him. “Stay out of this, Green. This is our fight, not yours!” he extends his arm out to Luigi, a bolt of lightning shooting from his fingers.

The bolt hit Luigi in the stomach with great force, sending him into the trees around them. His back slammed against a tree trunk before he fell to the ground on to his knees.

Mr. L turned back to Mario, a sharp pain piercing his back. He frantically looked around. No one had hit him. He shook it off and turned all of his attention to Mario, his fists now flaring with electricity.

He and Mario fought. Punches thrown, kicks given. Luigi could feel it every hit Mario landed on his enemy. It hurt him. In more ways than one. He tried to get up to help his brother, but every blow knocked him down farther. Luigi could only watch in distress.

The more Mario fought, the more discomforted he became. This was because Mr. L although technically still being him, looked just like his brother. His attacks only grew weaker. He didn’t want to fight, but he knew he had to.

Mario jumped, Mr. L, doing the same, yet jumping higher the red hero. He smirked, holding his hands together and swinging them over his head before throwing them down over Mario's, sending him crashing into the ground.

Mario, now in a crater, tried to push himself off the ground, Mr. L softly landing behind him.

Luigi yelled out to his brother once he hit the ground, the look of absolute horror in his eyes, as he tried to get up. At this moment, it felt like a dream he had.

Mr. L smiled nefariously to Mario.

“But…” Mario groaned weakly, “...why?” He swore he knew the answer. This felt all too familiar to him.

Mr. L's smile turned to a frown. “Why? I’m tired of being in your shadow, being seen as the 'lesser' brother. You know, I want some credit from time to time, and I’m going to get it,” his hand began to spark, “It’s my turn to be ‘player one’,” his hand grew brighter as it was pointed to the sky.

Mario was confused, but then it hit him. Not only was this situation similar to a dream he had, but Mr. L was a part of Luigi's mind. The two shared similar opinions. Mario looked past Mr. L to Luigi, who had finally managed to stand back to his feet, with a look that read, ‘I is that what you really think?’ 

Luigi shared a gaze with his brother, before nervously rubbing his arm and looking to the ground.

Angrily, Mr. L redirected his hand from the sky and pointed it to Mario, a ball of lightning forming at his fingers. Luigi remembered this part. He knew what he had to do. But instead of going one direction, he had a different idea to go another.

Just before Mr. L released the ball, Luigi ran towards him, tackling him to the ground. Startled, Mr. L released the ball, but not to Mario. He missed, sending it into the trees just above him.

Mr. L pushed Luigi off of him. Before he could attack, Luigi tightly gripped both of his hands to keep Mr. L from hurting Mario anymore.

“You and I may not be the same, but you're still me and I know, deep inside, you don't want to hurt him. You care about him. You love him. You don't want anything to happen to him,” Luigi cried, struggling to hold Mr. L back. He could see a look of regret flash over his face. However, this only lasted for a second as his face went right back to anger.

Mr. L angrily shook his head, “N-no! I’m not you and you’re not me! I don’t care about him! I want him gone!” With a shout, a wave of electricity shot from his arms to Luigi’s, electrocuting him.

Both Luigi and Mr. L gritted their teeth as they tried to withstand the pain. Neither of them could hold onto the other. They both took a step back, Luigi twitching a bit as he felt the electricity flowing through him.

Mr. L quickly summoned another ball of electricity and pointed it to Mario, who was trying to crawl away from the inevitable blast. Luigi recovered from the shock before pushing with Mr. all away. Again, the ball of lightning released without warning, but this time, it hit. It missed the heart, where Mr. L was aiming, but it did hit Mario in the side of the head, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. 

An extreme feeling of rage suddenly built up inside of Luigi at the sight. His breathing quickened. Any and all rationality he had was thrown out the window. Nobody hurts Mario on his watch. Now facing Mr. L, Luigi drew back his arm before sending it towards his face.

The proceeding punch hit. Hard. It knocked Mr. L out before he could even hit the ground. However, this also rendered himself unconscious. He could feel the pain in his forehead before falling onto the ground next to his doppelgänger.


	16. Chapter 16

Luigi found himself in the void again. It was cold. It was dark. It was empty. Not again, he thought. He wasn't alone, however.

Behind him was a figure. The figure crossed its arms. As he drifted closer, it turned around. He was met face-to-face with himself, or rather, Mr. L

"You!" Mr. L shouted angrily, quickly drifting closer to Luigi. Luigi tried to take a step back out of reflex but remembered there was no ground beneath them. "Why did you do that?!"

"I had to do something! You were gonna kill him!" Luigi retaliated.

"This is just great! Now, I'm stuck in this...whatever this is, thanks to you!" Mr. L turned away from him, furiously crossing his arms. "Why do I keep coming back here? I left your mind so I can avoid these kinds of things. To avoid you. To think what I want to think. To do what I want to do. To be my own person," The angered tone in his voice faded as he dropped his head.

"You say you want your own person, but we both know perfectly well that you're just me. You've always been me and you always will be!" Luigi informed, slightly annoyed

Offended, Mr. L tensed up, turning back to his irksome counterpart, "You- I have been my own being for as long as I can remember. I've just been trapped in that hellhole you call a mind for years." He covered his face with his hands before groaning in frustration, "There's so much I want to do. There are so many things I want to see for myself. But I can't do that if you keep getting in the way."

Mr. L began to feel the tingling sensation once again. He was regaining consciousness. He looked at his arms to see them start to fade away. "Things are going to change. I'm going to make sure you can't get in my way anymore," he told Luigi, chuckling maliciously.

~

Luigi awoke with a piercing pain in his forehead. He sat up and looked around. He knew this was the same place he fought Mr. L, but Mr. L was nowhere in sight. And neither was Mario. Luigi stood up off the floor in a panic.

Where was Mr. L? Where was his brother? He turned around, noting the castle that protruded from above the trees Luigi started back to the castle, hoping Mr. L hadn’t already beaten him there.

~

Mr. L, carrying Mario over his shoulders, ran towards Peach’s castle at fast as he could. The sun was beginning to set, slowly darkening the forest. The breeze stung his discolored eye. He underestimated how hard his dopplegänger could hit. 

Now, Mr. L could have put an end to the red-clad hero right here, but he had a different plan. A new plan. A plan that’ll stop Luigi from getting in his way again.

A wicked smile briefly showed on his face before changing to a falsely worried look. If he was going to pull this off, he needed to pose as someone else. Someone he knew not only Mario, but the princess would trust. He already had the look. He already had the voice. All he needed was an act.

~

Peach, seated in her throne, was finishing up a conversation she was having with a toad assistant when someone ran into the throne room.

"Luigi?" she stood up from her seat in shock and concern. She noticed the unconscious Mario in his hands ran over to him. "What happened?" The toad assistant slowly walked out of the room.

Mr. L, pretending to be concerned responded, "It was Mr. L! He attacked us in the woods! I managed to get away with only a bruise, but… Mario…" he nearly scowled at the name. He lifted up the brother's hat, which had fallen over his face on the trip to the castle, to reveal a burn mark on the side of his head, right above his cheek.

Peach gasped, "How did this happen?"

"He shot him!" Mr. L blurted out. Peach cocked her head to the side in confusion. "With a bolt of electricity. From his hands! Peach, he's dangerous. We have to do something about him!" 

Peach thought for a moment. "Okay, lie him down in the infirmary. I'll gather up the Reserve," she told him. They nodded off and went separate ways into the castle.

Once out of sight, and earshot, of the princess, Mr. L chuckled to himself. Luigi was screwed, Mario was knocked out, and Peach was distracted. Everything was coming together. All he had to do was play the waiting game.

Soon the Mushroom Kingdom will be his.


	17. Chapter 17

Luigi approached the entrance to the town. The usually bustling town was very quiet. Even for this part of the day. The moonlight illuminated the streets. Not a single toad to be seen. Starting to become a little worried, he slowly walked through the streets, hoping to find someone who could explain.

Continuing his way to the castle, a figure could be seen in the distance. It was a toad. Maybe they knew what was going on. It was holding something. It was long, sharp, and the tip glistened in the moonlight. It was a spear. Noticing Luigi, it turned, pointing its weapon in his direction with a short whistle. From the bushes behind the toad, a couple other toads, carrying similar weapons, crawled out.

Now terrified out of his mind, Luigi froze in place. His mind was screaming at him to go. To move. To run, but his legs wouldn't budge an inch. He thought to explain himself, but his mouth wouldn't move.

The toads drew closer. Luigi managed to take a step back, and another, before breaking out in a sprint towards the castle, the toads following close behind. He needed to find a way to lose them.

Coming up before them, was a split in the path they ran on and a sign between the two new paths. The path that continued ahead that led towards the forest that surrounded the castle and the path that turned led to the castle’s courtyard. Luigi continued forward, noting the dirt path faded into grass, making it harder for him to be followed.

Upon entering the forest, Luigi took a sharp left into a clearing of trees before jumping up into one. The Toads pressed onward, not noticing Luigi in the tree. After they passed, Luigi let out a sigh of relief. He carefully climbed out of the tree, back out the forest, and walked along the side of the path.

He went down the other path, the one that led to the courtyard. A stone brick wall separated the castle from the rest of the town. Luigi jumped up, grabbing the edge of the wall and pulling himself over it. He slipped and landed in a bed of flowers. He stood up and quickly dusted himself off before making his way to the pink gate that separated the castle and the courtyard.

After opening the gate carefully and closing it quietly behind him, Luigi walked through the long hallway in hopes to find Peach. He heard a commotion coming from a room near the end of the hall. Hearing Peach’s voice, his pace quickened. He needed to talk to her as soon as he could. Then, he stopped dead in his tracks, right outside the door, at the sound of... his own voice. He poked his head into the room. It was the Infirmary. His brother lied on the cot in the corner, still unconscious, while Peach and his dopplegänger talked next to him. Luigi gasped. He needed to get to get to his brother before anything worse could happen to him.

While the two were distracted, Luigi snuck past the door into the item storage room down the hall from the infirmary. In the room, he searches for a super mushroom for his brother. In doing so, he finds and pockets himself a mini-mushroom and a super leaf as well. Turning around, he noticed alone on a shelf there was a 1-Up mushroom with a little note attached to it. He picked it up and removed the note. ‘Last 1-Up for a while. Emergency use only,’ The note read. Luigi knew he was going to need it, so he pocketed that too.

Luigi then froze at the sound of footsteps approaching. 

“Luigi?” he heard his own name being called. It was Peach.

Luigi was about to turn to explain himself but remembered a small detail about the Luigi she had just been speaking with. ‘Luigi’, or rather Mr. L. held a hand over the right side of his face, presumably to hid the injury Luigi gave him. Raising his right hand over the right side of his face, Luigi turned to Peach, a nervous look in his eye.

“Sorry for starting you. What are you doing?" The princess asked.

"I- I was just looking for a mushroom for Mario," he explained.

"I thought you were going to look after Mario while I got one for him," Peach replied.

"Oh! I, um… changed my mind…" Luigi knew he was drawing suspicion towards him. He needed a way to get himself out of the situation he trapped himself in. "I just checked in here and there were none," he lied, "Maybe there's some upstairs..?

Peach knew something was wrong, but she didn't think too much about the situation. "Alright, I guess. I'll check upstairs," she said as she walked out of the room, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

Luigi hurried back to the infirmary, peeking through the door frame to see Mr. L pacing around Mario with a mischievous smile on his face. Luigi pulled the mini-mushroom out from his pocket and threw it down the hall. The mushroom bounced through the hall, catching Mr. L's attention. Luigi hid in an adjacent room. Mr. L peeked down the hall before going to investigate the sudden bouncing sound.

Now that Peach and Mr. L were distracted, Luigi had this small window of time to convince Mario he wasn't Mr. L. He knew that if Peach spotted two Luigi's, she wouldn't hesitate to call the guards on both of them.

Luigi ran over to the cot his brother lied on. Pulling the super mushroom out from his overall pocket, he fed it to Mario, who, in no time, sat up. He held his hand to his head as a piercing pain slowly faded away. Looking up, he spotted his younger brother. Seeing him prompted a question in his head.

“What happened to Mr. L? Did you get him?” Mario asked.

Before Luigi could answer, Mr. L walked back into the room, holding the mini-mushroom in his hand. Mario blinked twice. He swore he was seeing double. Mr. L and Luigi looked to each other with an angry glare.

“What are you doing here?” Mr. L asked his dopplegänger.

“Trying to help my brother and put a stop to you,” Luigi responded. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m trying to put a stop to you,” Mr. L took a step forward to Luigi.

Just then, Peach walked into the room, holding a super mushroom in her hand. Both Luigis turned to her. She dropped the mushroom in her hand as her glance shifted between Luigi and Mr. L.

Peach put her fingers together in front of her mouth and whistled loudly to alert the guards.

Luigi knew there was no way he could explain himself now. Not under this sort of pressure, so Luigi ran out the room, unintentionally pushing Peach to the side.


	18. Chapter 18

Luigi ran into the wall across from the infirmary. Taking a step back, he turned his head down the hall, seeing two Toad guards running in his direction. Luigi bolted the other direction to outrun the guards.

Luigi turned a corner and found himself in a room with a large spiral staircase and two more hallways, one continuing straight and one going to the left. He jumped up to the upper balcony to throw the toad guards off his track. He barely reached the next floor and pulled himself over the railing before standing against the adjacent wall.

The toad guards turned the corner and stopped near the base of the staircase. "Where did he go?" One guard asked.

The other turned his head between the forward and left hallway. "I'm not sure. We should split up. You go West, I'll go North," the other guard suggested.

Luigi watched as the toads nodded to one another and ran down their respective hallway. He sighed in relief. He needed to keep himself hidden as he tried to think of a new plan that won’t backfire in his face.

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the castle walls. Luigi ran to the other side of the balcony to a window to examine the sound. Outside, where a field of flowers used to be, was a large smoke-filled crater. An army of enemies could be seen advancing to Toad Town.

Luigi watched as chaos in the small town began to unfold. He needed to help them. Luigi ran to the nearest room, Peach’s bedroom, and over to the exterior balcony. He looked towards the ground, tightly gripping the railing as he realized how far of a fall it was. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his super leaf. As he used it, he sported a fox tail and a pair of pointed ears atop his head. He ran back into the room to get a running start before jumping over the balcony and gliding towards the town.

~~~~~

Mario sat on the cot, talking with Peach while ‘Luigi’ looked down the hall where his dopplegänger ran.

“Are you sure we can trust him?” Mario asked. “I mean, the other Luigi did heal me.”

“I don’t know. When he-,” Peach gestured to the Luigi standing in the doorway, “When he came to me with you and his arms, I wasn’t really thinking. I knew I should have questioned him, just a little bit, but all I could focus on was getting you better. We have to be careful around either of them. Who knows what they have up their sleeves.

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the walls of the castle. Mario stood up from the cot. “What was that?” he asked.

“I’ll go check it out,” ‘Luigi’ didn’t hesitate. He ran out of the room and down the hall.

“I should go with him,” Mario insisted. “Peach, you find somewhere safe to hide, I’ll go investigate that sound.” Mario began to walk to the door but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“I'm going with you,” Peach said, determined.

Mario sighed, “Peach, I don't know what's going on out there, but I know it's not safe for a princess. You could get hurt.”

“You don't get it. As the leader of this kingdom, it is my duty to protect it. Even if it means I could get hurt in the process. I'll go after him, you make sure that my people are safe,” Peach instructed.

Mario almost gasped, being taken aback. He wasn't exactly sure when Peach started acting so tough, but he liked it. He also feared it, so he simply nodded before heading down the hall.

Peach walked the opposite direction, the direction she had seen 'Luigi' run. She entered the throne room, seeing a figure near the front entrance. As she drew closer, she noticed a set of overalls lying on the ground next to it.

The figure perked up, hearing a familiar set of footsteps clicking against the hardwood floor. "Hello, princess," it spoke before turning around to face her. It was Mr. L, back in his traditional jumpsuit. He quickly removed his cap and flipped it inside-out, inverting the 'L' and the color on his emblem, and placing it back into his head.

Mr. L had a bruise around his right eye, which Peach took notice of quickly. "I should have known it was you," she spoke. "What are you doing here?"

“Is it not obvious? I’m trying to give this kingdom a much more devoted leader,” Mr. L responded. “Answer me this, Princess. Is being a leader something you really want to do?”

Peach didn’t even need to think for a response. “Of course, it is! I’ve been wanting to do this ever since-” she began, only to be interrupted.

“Do you though? Did you know that being a leader means you have to take action into your own hands?”

“Yes! I’ve been doing that for-” Peach tried to speak once more, only to get interrupted again.

“No, you haven't. Mario has. You can't just leave the safety of your kingdom in the hands of… one person… You've got to take matters into your own hands. This kingdom deserves someone like that, not someone like you.” 

“I am though,” Peach spoke, her voice low.

Mr. L scoffed, “What exactly are you doing to better this kingdom, Princess?”

“This.” Peach removed her crown from her head as she began to approach Mr. L. He was confused, but also intrigued. He began to reach his hands out to grab the crown before it came swinging towards him, hitting him in the face and sending him down the hall.

Mr. L fell to the ground, putting a hand to his head, feeling dizzied at the impact. He chuckled, “I underestimated you, princess. You’re a lot tougher than you made yourself out to be.” Standing up, he cracked his knuckles, a jolt of electricity shooting from them. “Guess we’re just going to have to do this the hard way.”


	19. Chapter 19

Luigi glided towards Toad Town, landing atop a house not far from the advancing horde. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally gliding to ones he could hardly reach. As he jumped to the last house, he felt as if he was struck in the face, causing him to practically fall out of the sky. He grabbed ahold of the roof in front of him before he could hit the ground. He pulled himself atop it and looked out to the field in front of him.

From a distance, it looked concerning but these were easy enemies. Goombas and koopas, with the occasional fly guy here and there. It wasn’t an ambush, just a distraction. Jumping down from the rooftop, Luigi swung his tail, taking out a mass of goombas, as well as a few koopas. He picked up a now empty shell and aimed it at a line of fly guys, hitting all but one. The remaining one wielded a bob-omb, which it threw to Luigi, who managed to hit it back with a swipe of his tail. The fly guy fumbled with the bob-omb for a moment before it blew up in its face.

Mario could see a second explosion as he rushed to the site of the first from a distance. He was seemingly out of breath as he arrived to see a familiar green-clad figure fighting off the swarm of uncomplicated enemies. He lightly smiled knowing this one was on his side.

As Luigi defeated another koopa, he kicked its shell behind him to a group of enemies that evaded him. The shell flew back, past him, taking out another group to the side of him. He turned around curiously to see what it bounced off of only to smile at the sight of his brother back on his feet again.

They approached each other, standing at each other’s side, neither of their backs facing the enemies.

“You look like you could use some help,” Mario remarked.

“As glad as I am to see you, I am a little worried. Are you sure you're strong enough to fight?” Luigi asked, concerned.

Mario quickly glanced to the ground before looking back up to Luigi “Yeah,” he nodded, a twinge of uncertainty on his face. “And besides, these guys are easy. We can take the rest of them out with a simple bros. attack!” He suggested, walking up to a koopa and jumping on it to take its shell.

Mario kicked it over to Luigi who, in turn, kicked it to the next koopa in line. Back and forth, the two kicked the shell, taking out another enemy with each one. As the shell ran back to Luigi to kick to the final koopa in line, another feeling of pain shot through him, distracting him from the fight. The shell struck him, knocking him to the ground, causing his super leaf augmentations to dissipate. The shell flew back to the koopa, defeating it before the shell flew right back to Luigi.

Mario gasped. Running over to his brother, he kicked to shell away before he could be stuck again. He crouched down. “Are you okay?” He asked fearfully.

Luigi looked up to Mario in pain and he felt a third blow, this one to the stomach. “I- I think Mr. L is in a fight,” he groaned.

~~~~~

Peach tightly gripped her crown as her assailant stood up off the ground, noticing the lightning forming from his hands. Mr. L charged towards her, his fist practically illuminated. She dodged, turning to the side and inevitably, and somewhat graciously, turning in a circle to face him once more. Now behind him, she swung her crown again in his direction, knocking him down to his knees.

Now, Mr. L was angry. Standing back up to his feet, he formed a ball of lightning in his hands and quickly threw it to the princess, it came without warning. Peach couldn't avoid it. The ball struck her in the stomach, causing her to collapse. She may have been able to deliver a hit, she certainly wasn't able to take one.

Peach looked up to see Mr. L approaching her. She tried to push herself up, wincing in pain but she didn't have enough strength. Instead, she lunged herself forward, crown in hand, landing one more hit upon him, sending Mr. L back towards the ground before she fell herself.

Mr. L didn’t move. He just sat on the ground, hands behind his back, sitting him up, seemingly defeated. Peach noticed this and used it as an opportunity to gather enough strength to stand to her feet once more. Slowly, she approached her phone, her grip tightening on her crown, which was nearly bent out of shape. Mr. L stayed put, his hat covering his face. Unbeknownst to her, he smirks maliciously, his hands blowing behind him, waiting to strike. 

Peach slowly raised her crown as she stepped closer, prepared to retaliate for an upcoming attack. Mr. L slightly tilted his head upwards, his smirk now visible to her. He quickly threw his hands forward, lightning shooting from his fingertips. Before she could do anything about it, she was thrown back, her grip loosening on her crown, and collided into a pillar that held the upstairs balcony. The pillar cracked and Peach fell to the ground with barely enough remaining strength to lift her head.

She looked just ahead of her, seeing her crown just out of reach. Shakily, she extended her hand in an attempt to reach the crown in her weakened state, getting within inches of getting ahold of it, only to watch him pick it up before her.

Mr. L examined the crown. Even though it was practically bent out of shape, it didn't mask the fact that possessing it was a mark of power. He directed his attention back to Peach.

“I am surprised, princess. You lasted longer than I thought you would. You’re strong,” he praised before crouching down to look Peach in the eye. “But not strong enough.” He tauntingly waved her crown in her face.

Peach’s expression shifted to one of anger as she tried to raise her hand to him once more only for him to gently put it back down with a shake of his head. “Save your strength,” he said, “Your kingdom is mine, princess, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

~~~~~

Luigi noted when the pain stopped, not too long before a strong feeling of pride washed over him. He knew it wasn’t his own emotions he was feeling as, right now, he was nothing more than concerned. Something was very wrong.

“Mario?” he asked, “When was the last time you saw him?”

Mario thought for a moment. “Peach insisted on going after him back at the castle,” he responded. He too was beginning to feel concerned.

Luigi’s eyes widened. “What?! M-Mario, Peach could be in serious trouble right now!” he practically shouted.

Mario’s heart sank. As much as he understood Peach’s intentions, he knew he shouldn't have let her go alone. At least, not without being certain she could take on what could be thrown at her. He knows that she can fight for herself, but could she protect herself? He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, but to no avail. “I have to go back,” He spoke quietly before bolting back to the castle.

“But Mario--!” Before he could get the words out, Mario was already out of earshot. Luigi knows Mario didn’t have the strength to fight Mr. L. Not alone. He swiftly ran after him.

~~~~~

Mario barged into the castle, rushing to where he had last seen Peach, coming across the scene of her fight where she lied, weakened, in front of Mr. L, who turned at the sound of him entering.

“Mario? You again?” Mr. L perked up. “This is perfect. First, the princess challenges me to a fight, and now you just walk right into my arms,” he laughed. “This is just too easy.”

“Too easy is what you’d call that sorry excuse of an army you sent on the town,” Mario retaliated. He glanced down to Peach, who gave off a feared and pained expression. This instilled anger in him, causing him to unconsciously ball his fists.

Mr. L scoffed, placing his free hand behind his back, allowing it to charge once more, “Those guys? Merely a distraction! But, enough talk, let’s just get this over with.” Just as he finished his sentence, Mr. L threw his arm forward, throwing a ball of lightning to the unsuspecting red hero. Peach, who could only watch in horror, gasped shakily. 

Luigi ran down the hall, stopping just short of the entrance to the lower stairwell. He could hear a gasp, followed by a thud. He peeked into the room, careful not to be seen, it was met with the fear-filled gaze from his brother, who had just collided with the wall and was losing a battle of consciousness. 

Luigi backed back into the hall. He fought the urge to go up to Mr. L and fight him once again. He was feeling a multitude of different emotions that he struggled to keep under control. He was upset. He was angry. He was scared.

He needed help. And he only had one more chance to get it.


	20. Chapter 20

Hiding amongst the shadows of Central Sarasaland, a hooded figure poked its head out from an ally, in search of something. Or rather, someone. Flying overhead was the ruler pro tempore, Kamek. Stepping out from their place of hiding, the hooded figure approached a nearby abandoned fruit stall. Gripping the stand from one side, they tipped it over, before quickly retreating to the shadows.

The resulting crash caught the magikoopa’s attention. Turning around, Kamek flew down to investigate. He looked around to find who caused the commotion, confused as no one was around. Before he could take off again, the hooded figure jumped onto his broomstick, wrapping their arms around him in an attempt to pull him off. Successful, the two both fell to the ground, Kamek’s broom now flying off in random directions.

Kamek struggled to break from the figure’s grip, using his wand to pry their hand off of him. As the figure let go, Kamek rolled away, stopping just short of the figure’s feet. He quickly jumped to his feet and pointed his wand in the figure’s direction. The figure stood up as well, looking down to Kamek as they were twice his height. Intimidated, Kamek fired a ball of magic from his wand, only to have the figure evade it by stepping to the side.

Kamek took a step back as he fired another ball of magic, the figure easily avoiding it once again. He took a few more shots before he was inevitably backed into a wall. With nowhere left to go, Kamek began to charge his wand.

Just overhead, Kamek's broomstick sporadically approached, just missing the hooded figure's head before ricocheting off a nearby structure. As it flew back, the figure extended their arm to grab it out of the air, tightly gripping it to prevent it from flying off again. It shook in its hands as the figure redirected their attention to Kamek. They swung the broomstick to him, knocking the wand out of his hand. The wand flew up, firing its charged ball of magic into the sky before falling back to the ground beside the two.

They both glanced at the wand, then to each other, before darting towards it. The hooded figure reached the wand first, pointing it to the magikoopa, causing him to back right up to the wall he stood at before.

"Call them off!" The figure spoke in a familiar feminine voice.

Kamek was quick -- and rather hesitant -- to respond. "N-never! Like I would go against my king's demands. Especially for a mere peasant like you!" He replied shakily, barely hiding it behind a confident facade. "And besides, I doubt you even know how to use that," he taunted.

The term 'peasant' struck a nerve with the hooded figure. They were angry before, but now, they were rather enraged. Much to Kamek’s dismay, his wand began to charge, its tip glowing in his face. He blinked, not taking his eyes off the wand as it slowly glowed brighter before he threw his hands up in surrender.

“Alright! Alright! I’ll call them off!” Kamek exclaimed. It had seemed he had already given up, but Kamek doesn’t give up so easily. The hooded figure slowly lowered the wand as Kamek put his hand to his mouth and let out one long whistle, attracting the attention of the nearby enemies. They had all stopped dead in their tracks and turned to the direction of the sound. It didn’t matter what they were doing, whether it was terrorizing Sarasaland citizens or just patrolling the streets, the wave of paratroopas surrounding the kingdoms darted towards Kamek’s location, prepared to attack the hooded figure that was threatening him.

The figure redirected the wand to the oncoming horde, firing the now large ball of magic, taking out a cluster of oncoming enemies. The broomstick continued to fidget in the figure’s hand, giving them an idea. They slightly loosened their grip, enough to allow the broom to fly around once again and to still hold onto it. As the broomstick flew erratically around the paratroopas, the figure used the wand to shoot at them, only occasionally having them land as the broomstick’s movements were unpredictable.

Eventually, the broomstick was flying too crazily, too much in fact that it was getting more and more challenging to hold on to. The figure’s focus was diverted entirely to keeping themselves from crashing, most notably to the ground. They fired one more ball of magic from the wand before using both hands to attempt to get a hold of the handle.

The broom sharply pulled up, forcing the figure’s hood off their head, their orange curls flowing just behind them in the wind. The broom took another turn, this one down towards the ground. The former Sarasaland princess gripped the broom with all her strength as it accelerated downwards in hopes it would slow down. She glanced to the head of the broom, noting it was smoking rather than sparkling.

Taking the wand and carefully maneuvering it to that it pointed to the broom’s head, careful not to loosen her grip at all, Daisy shot the head of the broomstick off, sending it flying to the distance, but not slowing her descent in the slightest. Luckily for her, the wave of paratroopas began flying up towards her, allowing her to use them to slow herself down.

She let go of the broom handle, keeping it in her hand opposite of the wand as she prepared to jump on the approaching enemies. One by one, she jumped atop a parakoopa, using them as some sort of bouncy staircase, until she reached the ground, taking the broomstick and swinging it to take out more paratroopas that began to surround her.

As she continued to fight them off, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, the magikoopa trying to sneak away. Daisy jumped, backflipping towards Kamek, kicking two more paratroopas in the process, and landed just before him, pointing the jagged end of the broom handle to him.

Kamek halted, looking up to see the now revealed orange-haired princess threatening him with a rather sharp object. His heart sank. Having known it was her beforehand, he would have heeded her commands as they were said. He, alongside pretty much everyone, knew not to mess with Daisy.

"Call. Them. Off," Daisy demanded once again. She was not in the mood for games. She needed to get her kingdom back into its rightful ruler's hands. She wasn't going to let some imposter steal everything from her.

Kamek, arms raised, nodded quickly, nervously whistling to the mob once more. This time, a series of short whistles, as opposed to one long one. The paratroopas ceased their attacks and turned away, beginning to fly off into the distance.

As Daisy watched the enemies flee, Kamek tried to take the opportunity to leave as well, only to be picked up off the ground by the collar of his robe. Being turned around, Kamek was now face to face with the Sarasaland princess.

“Don’t think I’m done with you yet,” She sternly spoke. The magikoopa nervously gulped. If he had a shell, he definitely would have retreated in it. “Where is he?” she asked angrily.

Kamek relaxed a tad, knowing he was not the one that was going to die that day. Yet still, he was absolutely terrified. “I-I have no idea who you’re talking about. Honest!” Kamek cried in response.

“You know damn well who I’m talking about!” Daisy exclaimed, “Where is he!?”

Kamek thought for a moment before gasping in realization. "Oh! You mean..." he stopped, realizing he wasn't sure where exactly he was. "I... I don't know where he is..." Out of reflex, Kamek flinched, prepared to be struck down where he was suspended.

Daisy saw this and knew, rather immediately, that he was telling the truth. She felt kind of bad. She gently placed him back on the ground, weakening her grip from his robe collar, but still holding on to it, just in case.

Just as his feet touched the ground, Kamek shot open one eye in confusion, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. Seeing nothing wrong in particular, he relaxed, looking up to Daisy, confused. He wasn’t used to this. Normally, when he didn’t have the information that was requested of him, he’d be deemed a liar and shot down -- metaphorically and physically -- wherever he happened to be standing. But, not in this case.

“You’re not… you’re not going to…” Kamek began.

Daisy shook her head. “No, but you can’t stay here,” she informed him, turning around to face her castle. Seeing the state it had been left in by that tyrant saddened her. She tugged at Kamek’s robe, gesturing him to follow her.

Daisy led him to the castle, passing in the streets, citizens that poked their heads out of hiding, relieved to see their rightful leader back in action. Daisy was aware she’d been out for a while, but the time she spent unconscious was nowhere near enough time to turn her beloved kingdom into what seemed to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

In the castle, Daisy led Kamek to Sarasaland’s warp room. She let him go just as she approached the pipe leading to formerly Bowser’s kingdom. Atop the pipe was a large metal slate that prevented anyone from the other end from exiting the pipe. Using all of her strength, she pushed the slate off the pipe just enough to allow him to enter.

“Now, get out of here,” Daisy gestured to the red and black colored pipe. “And don’t show your face around here again because I will not make the same mistake twice,” she informed him.

Kamek nodded and quickly jumped in the portal before Daisy went to seal it back up. As she pushed the slate back over the pipe, she could hear a sound from the other end of the room. Someone was exiting a pipe.

She pushed the remainder of the seal over the pipe and slowly approached the source of the sound. It had come from the pink pipe across the room. From the inside of the pipe, reached out two gloved hands using the rim of the pipe to pull themselves out. Attached to the gloved hands was a worn-out Luigi who, at the sight of her, gave Daisy a relieved smile. She was just the person he wanted to see.

Daisy, not so much. She returned this look with one of pure anger.

Luigi knew he had some explaining to do.


End file.
